Dorries: The Abortion Debate Fisk

I’ll keep the preamble to a minimum – what follows is a foll-on fisk of Nadine Dorries’ speech in the Westminster Hall debate on induced abortion, so let’s get on with the show. David Crausby is in the Chair, I’ve skipped the ritual sucking up to the Chair […]

So what has Mehdi Hasan actually learned?

Is is bravery or masochism that’s prompted Medhi Hasan to jump straight back into the fire by regaling the world with his list of “10 Things I Learned From Debating Abortion On Twitter“? Who knows for sure, but as the article is up at HuffPo I suppose the […]

How not to debate abortion

Okay, so while I was tackling Deborah Orr’s misconceived view of the abortion debate, Mehdi Hassan was stirring up a shit storm of his own at the New Statesman with an article entitled ‘Being pro-life doesn’t make me any less of a lefty‘. Maybe it does, maybe it […]

Deborah Orr and the Abortion Debate

I could, I suspect, be forgiven for being more than just a little bit irritated with Deborah Orr’s comments on the seemingly never-ending abortion debate, which she kicks off with the following observations… Oh, Lord, the right to choose. There’s no more powerful and predictable way to invite […]

The Most Repellent Clergyman in Britain Awards

There are days when one has to wonder whether there might just be a secret competition under way for the title of the most viscerally unpleasant clergyman in Britain. If there is such a competition – and if there isn’t there should be – then it’s one for […]

Maria Miller, Abortion and ‘Common Sense’.

The current upper limit for legal elective abortions (24 weeks gestation) is back in the news, yet again, courtesy of an article by Channel 4’s Cathy Newman at the Papal Telegraph’s new ‘Wonder Woman’ blog section – and, no, having looked over the section there’s not of hint […]

R. vs Catt – is eight years too harsh?

On Monday, as has been widely reported, a 35 year old woman from North Yorkshire, Sarah Louise Catt, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment after pleading guilty to a, thankfully, extremely rare offence under s58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. 58. Administering drugs or using […]

Abortion and Mortality Rates – How not to do science.

Over on the other side of the big pond, the Sacramento Bee is carrying the following report of a newly published ‘study’ which looks at the ‘relationship’ between female mortality and first pregnancy outcome. SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Sept. 5, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — A new study of the medical records […]

The Abortion-Breast Cancer Hypothesis (again) – Understanding Risk.

Recently I published a series of five articles that looked in depth at the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) hypothesis and the complex relationship between women’s reproductive history and their short and long term risk of developing breast cancer. Based on the research evidence I covered in those articles, we […]

No evidence of abortions ‘without sign-offs’ – updated

From the file marked ‘Misleading Headlines’ the Press Association (as churned by MSN UK news) reports: 400 abortions ‘without sign-offs’ More than 400 abortions were carried out last year without the right information being submitted to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), official figures have shown. Doctors also failed […]