
blogs


The government’s new ‘prevent duty guidance’ – imposing political correctness on university groups
The Government’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, currently being considered by the House of…

Freedom of conscience in the new Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct
A new year seems a good time to launch a new set of guidelines, and the NMC have chosen this January…

Disaster response: Malawi faces floods
Many people here daily live life on the edge, so it doesn’t take much to push it over into…

Why abortion is not the best solution for pregnancy following rape or incest
This incredibly difficult and sensitive issue has come into public discussion again as the Northern…

Why have we become so scared of disability?
When I went to see the midwife at 36 weeks of pregnancy, I did not expect to find myself leaving in…

Buffer zones – a form of subverting freedom of speech and real choice
It would appear that once again, liberties are under threat of being curtailed by the proponents of…

Ebola: Christmas is cancelled
As many of us stop work and get ready to enjoy Christmas, let’s spare a thought for the people of…

Conscientious Objection and the worrying implications of the Glasgow midwives case
The right for health professionals to exercise their conscientious objection to participating…

Ebola: dispatches from the frontline
CMF member Sam Dunnet is working as Staff Health Manager for Save the Children in Sierra Leone. Here…

Court rules that unborn babies are ‘organisms’: a look behind the headlines
Seven years ago, a baby girl (who cannot be named for legal reasons) was born to a 19 year old mother…

Censuring debate and free speech at Oxford University
Not for the first time, a college at a top UK university has completely shut down an attempt to organise…
NICE and GP consortia. What criteria should we use in deciding how to distribute scarce medical resources? Some help from St Paul.
The government’s drug rationing body, NICE, is to lose its power to turn down new medicines for use in the NHS, but will continue to write guidelines for doctors on the best treatments for their patients. In addition, the current limit on the cost of new drugs – around £30,000 per quality adjusted life year […]
UK retailers are not being honest about the mode of action of new morning-after-pill ellaOne (ulipristal acetate)
Earlier this week the news broke that a new ‘morning-after pill’ was being sold online in Britain by a London-based company called HealthExpress. In fact ellaOne (Ulipristal acetate) has been available on prescription in the UK since May 2009. It was granted marketing authorisation by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in March 2009 and the […]
Powerful arguments advanced in UK parliament for a change in the law to ensure properly informed consent for abortion
Last night Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, spoke in an adjournment debate on the subject of informed consent for termination of pregnancy. Adjournment debates allow the House of Commons to hold a general open-ended debate on a subject or a government policy without reaching a formal decision about it. This is often a […]
David Nutt’s report on the harmful effects of alcohol should prompt the government to adopt evidence-based protection strategies
Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack, according to a study published in medical journal the Lancet. The report, which is co-authored by former UK chief drugs adviser Professor David Nutt, ranks 20 drugs on 16 measures of harm to users and to wider society. Each drug was scored for harms including mental and […]
Are British Christians too fat? Almost certainly! But what should we be doing about it?
New research this week has shown that two-thirds of Britons are overweight or obese – making us the fattest country in Europe. We are also the fourth fattest nation in the world behind only Australia (71.1 per cent), the US (69.9 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (68.4 per cent). According to research company […]
The real answer to reducing maternal mortality is not ‘safe’ abortion but better education, obstetric and midwifery care, CMF tells DFID
The Christian Medical Fellowship has now published its submission to the Department for International Development (DFID) Consultation on Maternal Health Strategy: ‘Choice for women: wanted pregnancies, safe births’ The Government proposals have been criticised for appearing to link the provision of abortion services with international development aid as DFID says one of its key proposals […]
New survey reveals widespread ignorance about the level of abortion in Britain
Today, on the 43rd anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act, Christian Concern has launched a new campaign urging politicians and members of the public to ‘stop and think’ about abortion. The event was marked with a silent vigil outside the Houses of Parliament followed by a national service of lament in Westminster addressed […]
Jesus’ Nazareth Manifesto as a basis for healthcare mission
Jesus Christ’s dynamic entry into first century Palestine was marked by miraculous healing of many illnesses for which even today there are no known treatments. But along with his compassion to restore health he brought the gospel message of healing of broken relationships – between human beings, between human beings and the planet and most […]
The new healthcare professionals’ group seeking to legalise assisted suicide includes a number of well known campaigners
A new group of ‘health professionals’ has this week joined the growing number of ‘societies’ and ‘forums’ seeking legal permission for doctors to assist with suicide. ‘Healthcare Professionals for Change’ follows on the heels of Libby Wilson’s FATE (Friends at the End), Michael Iriwin’s SOARS (Society for Old Age Rational Suicide), Philip Nitschke’s EXIT International […]
If you want to know about advances in the treatment of spinal cord injury don’t read any British newspaper or ask the BBC
Reading the reports about the new embryonic stem cell trial for spinal cord injury that have been all over the BBC and the British papers today I am struggling to know what all the fuss is about and why in fact it is even news at all. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is […]
Christine MCafferty hoist on her own petard – full text of amended resolution on right to conscientious objection in lawful medical care
I recently blogged on the Council of Europe’s 7 October decision to throw out a resolution (see original wording) seeking to force health professionals across Europe to be involved in abortion. As a result of the humiliating defeat of pro-abortion activists the resolution actually passed was ironically one of strongest defences of conscientious objection in European […]
Sir Michael Caine’s report of his father’s death is an opportunity to educate the public about what good palliative care can achieve
Sir Michael Caine (pictured) has revealed how he asked a doctor to help his terminally ill father to die. Maurice Micklewhite, a Billingsgate fish market porter, apparently died in hospital at the age of 56 in 1955 after suffering from liver cancer. Sir Michael told Classic FM: ‘My father had cancer of the liver and […]