Morning-after pills don’t cut teen pregnancy rates
Morning-after pills don’t cut teen pregnancy according to a new study due to be published in the Journal…
CMF members blog from Haiti
Over the last few weeks, nine CMF members have been working in Haiti, as part of a Samaritan's Purse…
Euthanasia bills fall at first hurdle
Last November I reported on the overwhelming defeat in the Scottish Parliament of Margo Macdonald’s…
The ‘ultrasound’ Jesus reminds us of the meaning of the incarnation
The creators of the 2010 ‘Christmas Starts With Christ' campaign say that its purpose is to bring attention…
How common is abortion to save the life of the mother?
Ireland’s ban on abortion was upheld this week by the European Court of Human Rights in a case brought…
A new exhibition touring the United States is highlighting lessons to be learned from the Nazi doctors
Most when remembering the holocaust will think of six million Jews but apparently this was only the final…
Two letters to the Times regarding Lord Falconer’s Commission on Assisted Dying
I have had two letters regarding Lord Falconer's Commission on Assisted Dying published on the Times…
Former Lord Chancellor misrepresents law on assisted suicide in national newspaper
Yesterday the Care Not Killing Alliance wrote to Lord Falconer, the former Lord Chancellor (pictured),…
ICMDA HIV Initiative 2010 Dignity and Right to Health Awards
The joint winners of the 2010 Dignity and Right to Health award are Dr Gisela Schneider from Germany…
More knowledge of fetal development leads to new US laws making late abortion illegal
In April this year the US state of Nebraska legislature signed off a bill that could weaken further the…
Chile’s president says country’s respect for life mandated great efforts to save lives of Chilean miners
I see that 26 of the rescued Chilean miners have just been welcomed to Manchester United by football…
Presumed Consent for Organ Transplantation – What does the Bible say?
Geoffrey Robinson MP wants to bring in an opt-out system for organ donation in England. His Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill is due its second reading (debate stage) on 23 February 2018. It seems he has a lot of support. Yet evidence for the claim that an opt-out system will increase transplants is still lacking […]
Marie Stopes International: carrying out unsafe abortions in the UK and across the globe, using taxpayer millions
For the past five years, the charity Marie Stopes International (MSI) has been given £163 million in UK taxpayer money to spend on abortions in developing countries. This money also went on helping to liberalise laws on abortion. No other country gives as much money to MSI than our own Department for International Development (DFID). […]
Seeing the Person behind the disability
Late in June, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) abolished the role of Disability Commissioner. This happened 36 hours before Lord Shinkwin, newly appointed to the role, was due to hold his first board meeting. Shinkwin explains that EHRC’s chair, David Isaac, had declared the role to be ‘redundant’. The rights of disabled people […]
Why the rush to change blood donation deferral policies for commercial sex workers & men who have sex with men?
Commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men (MSM) in Britain and Scotland are to be allowed to donate blood three months after they last had sex (see also here, hereand here). The rule changes will come into force at blood donation centres in Scotland in November and in England in early 2018. The Government accepted the recommendations […]
College climbs down over ban on Christian doctors and nurses training in sexual and reproductive health
Doctors and nurses wishing to practise in sexual and reproductive health have been granted more liberty to exercise freedom of conscience under new guidelines published earlier this year. The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), a faculty of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), has relaxed its stance on conscience in new guidelines issued […]
DNA editing – a significant advance but many questions remained unanswered
You can see my Sky News interview on this story here. Scientists have, for the first time shown that it is possible to correct gene mutations in human embryos successfully using a gene editing tool potentially opening the door to treatment for over 10,000 single gene disorders. The US and the South Korean researchers used a new technology […]
Ideology or Evidence (part two)? The battle over abortion statistics
Having blogged about the triumph of ideology over evidence in relation to the campaign in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland for presumed consent to organ donation, I can now report on a campaign where evidence triumphed over ideology. This one is in relation to the reporting and publicity of abortion outcomes. To give some background: […]
Ideology or evidence? The battle over presumed consent to organ donation
The debate about changing the law on organ donation is one of a number of controversial issues where I believe that we are increasingly seeing the triumph of ideology over evidence. A campaign to introduce ‘presumed consent’ to organ donation on death has been gaining momentum for some time and now similar legislation to […]
Charlie Gard: Emotion has trumped trust in today’s society, but parents and professionals can work together
The tragic case of Charlie Gard, and the desperate efforts of his parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard to do everything to give him a chance of life have gripped the national and international media. The case raises profound and troubling questions about the power of medical technology, the duties and responsibilities of doctors […]
Why Boots chemist should not have capitulated to pressure from BPAS over emergency contraception
Over the weekend I waded into the debate on whether Boots should reduce the price of the so-called ‘morning-after pill’ and criticised the high street chemist for ‘capitulating in the face of political pressure’. Let me explain why. Boots had originally defied calls to slash the price of ‘emergency contraception’ – with its chief pharmacist saying it did […]
Family planning – ‘summit of a mess’
Last week’s London Family Planning Summit was, on the surface, a ‘successful’ follow up to the 2012 Family Planning Summit, which aimed to increase access to contraception for 120 million women. US$2.5 billion was pledged by governments and other donors to ‘improve and expand the reach of reproductive health services to women and girls in […]
The Conway Case – a change in the law to allow assisted suicide is dangerous and unnecessary
A 67-year-old Shropshire man with motor neurone disease (MND) is seeking to overturn the law banning assisted suicide. Noel Conway is backed by the former Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now rebranded Dignity in Dying (DID)), whose lawyers will argue that the current blanket ban on assisted suicide under the Suicide Act is incompatible with his rights under […]