
blogs


Lucy Letby- a deep grief
This is such a deeply disturbing case. One of the most horrifying scandals to ever hit the NHS. A neonatal…

Doctors on strike – reflections of a conflicted consultant
On 1 August 1983, my life changed forever. I started work in the NHS. I lost all that I had known of…

Complete societal capture on abortion
The sentencing of a woman for two years imprisonment for performing a home abortion with pills obtained…

Mitochondrial manipulated births: a muted reception
For a prospect anticipated for almost 20 years, the announcement in a Guardian exclusive of the successful…

When is a ‘synthetic’ embryo a real embryo?
Embryonic stem cell-derived embryos (ESCDEs) have been around for a long time.
Last year, an ESCDE,…

You wouldn’t do it to a dog! Current fetal pain relief in NHS abortions
This blog should perhaps carry one of those BBC-style warnings, ‘some viewers may find the following…

Moral flip-flopping over doctors and the death penalty
I have long argued that ethicists who advocate euthanasia while at the same time being opposed to capital…

‘Because you’re worth it?’ The BMA and the junior doctors’ strikes
Easter 2023 is likely to be remembered for a long time in the NHS. Straight after a four-day bank holiday…

‘Of Mice and Men’
The Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in 2018 really hit the headlines when Prof He…

When is a baby not a baby?
Last week Panorama ran an ‘investigation’ into pregnancy advice centres which they claimed give misleading…

Neuro-silicon interfaces: a new mode of being?
The idea of humankind being merely machines has a long history, stretching back to Julien Offrey De La…
Margo MacDonald MSP is seriously misleading the Scottish People and Parliament
Margo MacDonald claims that about 50 Scots a year would die if her ‘end of life assistance’ bill were to be enacted. She makes this remarkable claim on the basis that experience in the few countries where assisted death has been legalised shows that it accounts for only one in every 2,000’ deaths – though, […]
The government needs to invest more in cord blood
More than two years ago CMF welcomed a new bill which encouraged the donation at childbirth of umbilical cord blood and its storage for public use. It also called on the government to invest more actively in developing the NHS cord stem cell bank. MP David Burrowes’ Umbilical Cord Blood (Donation) Bill aimed to increase […]
Helping Haiti
Following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday 12 January, causing tragic loss of life and massive destruction, CMF members have been asking how they should respond to this disaster. The UK Department of Health reports that the initial acute medical response is now well underway with 14 field hospitals, one US hospital ship […]
The brain is like a muscle – use it or lose it
Some years ago on a trip to India I shared a room with a doctor at a Christian Medical Conference in New Delhi where we were both speaking. He was a travelling evangelist and Bible teacher from Kerala who had put many long train trips to good use by memorising Scripture and could tell you […]
DPP guidance on prosecutions for assisted suicide comes in for serious criticism
On 30 July the Law Lords, ruling on the Debbie Purdy case, required the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer (pictured) to publish the facts and circumstances he would take into account in deciding whether to bring a prosecution under the Suicide Act. Under the Suicide Act 1961 assisting with suicide carries a sentence […]
Global warming is much more about per capita consumption than population
In February Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission, said that curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of efforts to combat global warming, and that couples who had more than two children were irresponsible. This idea – that our planet is heating up as a result […]
Goats and kitchen sinks for Christmas
Some friends told me this week that they had given each of their children a £50 allowance this year to buy Christmas gifts for people living in developing countries. Their kids had grasped the opportunity with both hands, putting careful thought into their purchases, and even adding some of their own savings in an effort […]
Climate Change, Population and Health
At the time of writing, the Copenhagen Climate Change Talks are about to happen, and much comment in the media suggests that the chances of a meaningful agreement on curbing emissions rests on whether the West can persuade India, China, Brazil and much of the developing world to sign up. At the same time, reports […]