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In the News

  • Times (£): Claims over disabled babies cost NHS £70m
    January 29th, 2017

    The NHS has paid £70m to parents of disabled babies who say they would have had abortions had they known of the abnormalities earlier.

    The bulk of the payouts were to parents who claimed that antenatal screening failed to warn them of the risk that their baby would be born with a disability. The parents argued that had they known their child had a high chance of being born disabled, they would have undergone a termination.

    The payments for what is legally termed "wrongful birth" were made by the NHS Litigation Authority over the past five years and were revealed to The Sunday Times last week.

    Read more.

  • Daily Caller: Trudeau Government Will Help Replace Abortion Funding
    January 28th, 2017

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government will be funding more international abortion services, the minister for international development quietly announced Friday night.

    On CBC radio's "As It Happens," Marie-Claude Bibeau said that Canada will increase the amount of money it provides to international abortion-related services in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order that cuts off U.S. funding for foreign abortion providers. 

    Read more. 

  • Sweden to stop calling transgender people 'mentally ill'
    January 28th, 2017

    Transgender people will no longer be classified as "mentally ill" in Sweden, the country’s main national health authority has announced, in a decision widely criticised as overdue.

    Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare, or Socialstyrelsen, announced late on Friday that it would no longer automatically apply the diagnosis "gender dysphoria" to transgender patients. 

    Read more. 

  • Telegraph: Panels clears Dutch doctor who asked family to hold patient down as she carried out euthanasia procedure
    January 28th, 2017

    A Dutch woman doctor who asked an elderly patient's family to hold her down while she administered a fatal drug dose has been cleared under Holland's euthanasia laws.

    Mailonline reported that the patient fought desperately in an attempt not to be killed.

    Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Regional Review Committee, which considered the case, said: "I am convinced that the doctor acted in good faith, and we would like to see more clarity on how such cases are handled in the future."

    Read more.

  • Mail: 'It's important knowing she had her place in time': Mother, 35, in fight for the State to admit that the baby she lost at 23 weeks was a human being
    January 28th, 2017

    The young rowan tree in Sarah Henderson’s local park is already bursting with its signature red berries. Passers-by stop to admire its beauty, a vibrant splash of colour at this otherwise bleak time of year.

    Some may notice the simple oak post by the tree in the Buckinghamshire park which bears the name Rowan Henderson. But few will understand the significance.

    It is the only place on earth that records the name of the little girl Sarah and her husband Nick lost nearly two years ago.

    Read more.

  • Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali: A response to the Bishops' report on marriage and same sex relationships
    January 27th, 2017

    I welcome the BRGS Report’s upholding of the doctrine set out in Canon B30. It is to be noted that this Canon is not just about marriage being between a man and a woman but also about its lifelong nature, the birth and the nurture of children and the ‘hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affection’. This cannot go hand in hand with wanting to make pastoral provision for public prayer for those in others kinds of relationships.

    I miss any treatment of a biblical anthropology in the document and, even more, of the detailed work both of biblical scholars and by the Church of England of the biblical material as set out, for example, in Some Issues with Human Sexuality (Church House Publishing, 2003). Although Scripture, tradition and reason are mentioned as a 'classic Anglican triad' the primacy of Scripture is not affirmed. Instead, the report, mistakenly, invokes ‘provisionality’ in theology, although Lambeth Conferences have done this only in relationship to ecclesiology.

    Read more.

  • BBC: Ofsted inspectors are ignoring sex education, says report
    January 27th, 2017

    Too little focus on sex education in Ofsted inspections is risking pupils' health and wellbeing, argues a study.

    Sex and relationships education gets fewer mentions in Ofsted reports than any other subject, suggests analysis by the British Humanist Association (BHA).

    It figured in fewer than 1% of inspections carried out in England last year, researchers found.

    Read more.

  • Christian Today: CofE stands firm on gay marriage: Here is how Christians on all sides reacted
    January 27th, 2017

    The bishops of the Church of England have sided with its conservative wing in refusing to offer any change in the teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman.

    The decision prompted cries of outrage among pro-LGBT Christians not convinced by the insistence it was just "the beginning of the process".

    After more than two years of private talks at all levels of the Church hierarchy, the bishops said there "are no proposals" to change the doctrine on marriage.

    Read more.

  • GAFCON UK: The Bishops' report on marriage and same sex relationships: a response from GAFCON UK
    January 27th, 2017

    GAFCON UK is grateful that with this statement, the Church of England has ruled out any intention to change its teaching on marriage. The Bishops have taken seriously the views of the global Anglican Communion and the need to maintain consistency with historic and apostolic teaching, while admitting the serious differences in interpretation of this deposit.

    We appreciate the witness of those who have upheld the biblical teaching of the Church during the discussions of the House of Bishops and the Reflection Group.

    We agree that all Church of England congregations should provide a generous welcome to every person, and to treat all with respect and love regardless of sexual orientation, relationship history and ideology, providing pastoral care and godly guidance for all who seek it. It is our earnest prayer that the Good News of forgiveness of sin, empowering of the Holy Spirit, and fulfilment through a relationship with Jesus Christ lived in obedience to his Word, will be made available to all through the ministry of our churches.

    Read more.

  • BHA: Major new BHA report: School inspections 'almost totally neglect' PSHE and SRE
    January 27th, 2017

    The teaching of personal, social, health, and economic education (PSHE) and sex and relationships education (SRE) in English schools is being ‘fatally neglected’ by inspectors, a major new report by the British Humanist Association (BHA) has revealed – with the subject receiving much less attention than any other.

    The Government has recently resisted making PSHE and SRE compulsory, arguing in part that it is unnecessary because Ofsted picks up any inadequate teaching in its inspections. Today’s report has been described by the BHA as ‘completely undermining’ that claim.

    Healthy, happy, safe? An investigation into how PSHE and SRE are inspected in English schools analyses over 2000 primary and secondary school inspection reports for 2015/16.

    Read more.