
blogs


Do Christians divorce at lower or higher rates than others?
It is widely assumed that Christians divorce at roughly the same rate as non-Christians. This ‘fact’…

Trickle of British suicide cases to Dignitas continues as Swiss vote for status quo
Switzerland's parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide this week, rejecting…

Why does God allow suffering?
What causes suffering? Is just fate? Retribution? All in the mind? Random molecules?
These are some…

Patients with dementia and psychiatric illnesses included as Dutch euthanasia cases rise steeply
According to Dutch media reports today, euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2011 increased by 18%…

What do Ludwig van Beethoven, Justin Bieber and Tim Tebow have in common?
A professor in a college ethics class presented his students with a problem. He said, ‘A man has…

Warning to UK – Oregon Health Plan steers patients towards suicide
Members of the pro-euthanasia movement frequently point to the US state of Oregon, which legalised assisted…

BBC article on ‘gay therapies’ is simplistic, misleading and ignores much of the available evidence
Should people with unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction seek professional help? And if so what kind…

Major split in LibCon Coalition over assisted suicide
The Liberal Democrat conference voted yesterday to back the legalisation of ‘medically assisted dying’,…

Liberal Democrats back Dutch style legislation which would lead to 13,000 British euthanasia deaths annually
On Sunday 23 September the Liberal Democrat conference debated and passed a motion on ‘medically assisted…

Abortion after rape – the issues and emotions involved are not as straightforward as most people presume
I was interested to see published this week a statement from the ‘Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant…

Current law supports eugenic abortion for disabled people – our letter in today’s Daily Telegraph
I am one of nine joint signatories to a letter in the Daily Telegraph today arguing that the success…
Why is an offshoot of a euthanasia pressure group launching a ‘how-to-die’ helpline?
I see that staff of Dignity in Dying, formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, are planning to set up the UK’s first helpline aimed at speeding the terminally ill towards ‘a good death’. The free phone line, is to be set up under the auspices of DID’s sister organisation Compassion in Dying, a registered charity. The […]
‘Doing God’ is good for your health
Practising Christian faith is good for your health. That’s the verdict of a new report which shows that the faithful live longer and remain healthier. At a time when the health service is facing financial cuts and government is seeking ways to enhance happiness, the report shows that politicians who say ‘We don’t do God’ […]
Government fails in bid to keep statistics on late abortions secret
The Government has failed in a High Court bid to keep secret information on late abortions which it claimed might lead to the identification of individual women involved. A judge today upheld the Information Tribunal’s earlier decision to disclose ‘sensitive’ data from national statistics to the ProLife Alliance. The judge also put a stay on any […]
Pro-euthanasia campaigners use of celebrities to boost support may well fuel more suicides
Columnist Melanie Philips this week, in an article titled ‘Why are the Left (and the BBC) so keen to promote this ghoulish culture of death?’ highlights the growing use of celebrity endorsement for a change in the law. First, we learned that the BBC plans to screen a documentary this summer in which novelist and […]
Why I told the Daily Mail that the BBC was acting as the ‘cheerleader’ for assisted suicide
Last Friday I was quoted on the front page of the Daily Mail as saying that the BBC was acting as ‘cheerleader’ in the campaign to legalise assisted suicide. This article amplifies those comments and gives some of the wider background. The BBC have recently filmed a man killing himself at the notorious Dignitas suicide […]
Unless we reverse demographic trends the generation that killed its children may well be killed by its children
Low fertility rates and an ageing population will present Europe with a big economic challenge. This was one of the points made in a study published by the European Commission at the start of the month. The ‘Third Demography Report’ found that the number of children per woman has increased from 1.45 children, at the time of […]
New genetic screening plans raise serious questions about our attitudes to disability
The Human Genetics Commission (HGC), a government advisory committee, has given the green light to preconception genetic tests saying that there are no specific ‘social, ethical or legal’ reasons that stand in the way. The UK National Screening Committee will now consider this advice as it decides whether widespread screening should be introduced in GP […]
The Royal College of Psychiatrists consultation on abortion and mental health – let’s put this into perspective
Some people have expressed concern about an article published in the Daily Telegraph yesterday which reported on a new consultation by the Royal College of Psychiatrists looking at the relationship between abortion and mental health. The Telegraph headline ‘Abortion doesn’t harm mothers’ mental health’ is actually seriously misleading and the whole piece is somewhat simplistic, […]
Live blog: new mood of militancy among nurses
CMF’s Head of Allied Professions, Steve Fouch (pictured below), is at the RCN Congress in Liverpool. He’s giving us live text, tweet and blog updates as events unfold. Keep following this blog post for further updates. Monday 11 April 2011 13.01 The Royal College of Nursing Congress in Liverpool got off to a heated start […]
Dorries and Field are not pro-life but their abortion amendments are a small step in the right direction
If you type ‘abortion’ into Google News these days you will find that most of the reports thrown up are from the US; and most involve new legislation aimed at curbing abortion rates. A whole host of bills are being introduced in different states aimed at whittling away the abortion law: bills requiring the offer […]
Nan Maitland’s assisted suicide demonstrates the incremental extension that will follow any change in the law
According to the Sunday Times, an 84 year old British woman committed suicide at a Swiss facility last month because she did not want to die of old age. Nan Maitland (pictured), who suffered from arthritis but was active and not terminally ill, left a note saying she wished to escape the ‘long period of […]
Missing midwives costs mothers’ lives
On 1 April 2011 Save the Children launched a campaign to find the missing midwives. Save the Children’s recent research suggests that globally we need 350,000 midwives, and that this shortage of skilled birth attendants means as few as 6% of women in some developing countries have access to skilled birth attendants. As a result […]