Don’t believe everything you read in the Washington Post – a compendium of the most recent medical evidence linking abortion and mental health
I recently blogged about an adjournment debate in the House of Commons in which Nadine Dorries MP spoke…
The pro-euthanasia lobby’s reaction to Frances Inglis’ sentence reveals their agenda and ignores key facts of the case
Under British law mercy killing (ie. euthanasia voluntary or involuntary) is treated as murder under…
The Inglis judgment should send a strong signal that it is not acceptable to take another person’s life, even in desperation.
A woman from East London who was found guilty of murder after giving her brain-damaged son a lethal heroin…
New advances in embryo testing may result in higher success rates for IVF but at what cost?
Two new embryo screening tests have been recently developed that researchers believe will increase success…
New report claims that junior doctors’ training ‘puts patients at risk’ but will the government be prepared to pay for the real solution required?
A new report, Foundation for Excellence, this week has claimed that patients are being put at ‘unnecessary…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
I’m a Christian working in the NHS. The system is broken. Here’s how you can pray for us
I’ve just got home from a shift in the emergency department (ED). The hospital is in ‘critical incident’ due to overcrowding, but it’s been like this for weeks. 100 people or more in a department designed for 25. Queues of ambulances are unable to offload for hours because there’s no space. Patients who have had […]
Podbabies: Who are they kidding?
Ectogenesis – the gestation of children in artificial wombs – has long been considered by many feminist writers as the ultimate liberation for women from the tyranny of reproduction and the limitations it imposes on women’s autonomy. It has also been said to be necessary to ‘challenge traditional patriarchal family structures, and thence all other […]
An appreciation of Sir Eldryd Parry 1931-2022
Sir Eldryd Hugh Owen Parry KCMG OBE, a CMF member, died aged 91 on 13 November 2022. I wanted to write a brief appreciation of his extraordinary life of service in universities in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Ghana and the establishment of the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET). His numerous achievements and awards are recorded […]
Canada’s home MAiD disaster?
My first recollection of the impact legalised euthanasia and assisted suicide would have – for that is what Medical Assistance in Dying (the innocent-sounding MAiD) is – was at a conference in Paris. An Ontarian ethicist enthusiastically explained to us how, among other preparatory measures for MAiD, all the mannequins in the resuscitation training rooms […]
Celebrating two Black British nursing pioneers
To mark Black History Month, we wanted to tell the story of two prominent Black nurses from British history, Mary Seacole and Chief Kofoworola Abeni Pratt. Both faced prejudice but battled through to gain recognition for their work. Their stories are a reminder that Black nurses have been making a significant contribution to the profession […]
Acting with a clear conscience? WMA, GMC, BMA, and moral injury
Having reasonable freedom to act in accordance with our conscience is something that Christian healthcarers rightly value. A number of recent events and reviews over the last year or so highlight some of the perennial vulnerabilities of conscience provision but also some reasons for hope and optimism. WMA International Code of Medical Ethics The World […]
Our workforce is on its knees: it’s time for us to be as well
A response to the RCN and RCM strike ballots Propping the staff room door open with her foot, Maria leans out into the corridor and shouts, ‘Bex! You coming for lunch soon?’. When I finally pull myself away it’s gone 4 pm. ‘I did make you a cup of tea’ Maria gestures to the cup […]
Praying for patients – punishable or permitted?
A Christian doctor who offered to pray for patients has agreed to attend a course on ‘boundaries’ after settling his case with the NHS. The Christian Legal Centre said Dr Richard Scott has been ‘vindicated‘ as NHS England lawyers agreed that the doctor is free to pray with patients if he does so within General […]
Queen Elizabeth II
We were all greatly saddened to hear yesterday evening (8 September 2022) of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second after a short illness. CMF wishes to extend our sympathies to the Royal Family and share in the nation’s mourning. In a reign spanning seven decades that saw massive social, political and cultural […]
Brain death, resurrection, and Archie Battersbee
Since June, when I last wrote about the deeply distressing case of Archie Battersbee, his ventilator was eventually switched off on 4 August. Soon after, he was declared dead when his heart subsequently stopped beating. In the evidence they gave at the court hearing on 6-8 June, the healthcare professionals caring for Archie all agreed […]
Unethical and outlawed are not the same
An article in the New Statesman this week implied that Conservative Party leadership contender Penny Mordaunt MP, had been involved with an organisation that ‘wants to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape’. This might have been an interesting story if she had indeed had any relevant links to such an organisation; even more when […]
Roe v Wade
Last week we witnessed an event that I never thought I would see in my lifetime: the overturning of Roe v Wade. This 1973 Supreme Court decision held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, the right to privacy, protects a woman’s freedom to terminate a pregnancy. Half a […]