Eric Crampton • May 23, 2019 •
Awww, nutbunnies. In April, Paula Penfold and Eugene Bingham reported that 2500 women had had their requests for abortion turned down over the last decade. Me, and a few others, immediately started imagining some rather interesting research that could be done if those records could be linked up in the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI). So I started making enquiries. Read More
John Pickering • Jun 10, 2013 •
Lots of chat from fellow science bloggers (see here, here, here and here) about fluoridation following the recent Hamilton City Council decision. Naturally most of the posts focus on the science and the logic (or otherwise) of the arguments around fluoridation. I have no knowledge about fluoridation per se and have nothing to add to the science. … Continue reading » … Read More
Eric Crampton • Mar 08, 2013 •
Robert Cole and Gareth Jones, a student and Emeritus Professor, respectively, at the University of Otago, provide a sensitive and balanced analysis of ethical issues around enhanced prenatal screening for Down's Syndrome [gated, sorry]. The new test is non-invasive, relying on a blood test for the mother rather than amniocentesis, which imposes risks on the foetus and consequently requires … Read More
Jim McVeagh • Mar 24, 2010 •
Unfortunately, I have been too busy to comment on Obama’s “historic” healthcare bill, up until now. Somehow, congratulating Obama on his first real achievement seems somewhat hypocritical, considering I think the bill is the usual socialist mix of paternalistic pseudo-concern and a distressing disregard of both taxpayer’s pockets and obvious consequences. The fight to reverse [...] Related posts: … Read More
Jim McVeagh • Mar 05, 2010 •
You  may be wondering why Republicans seem so adamantly against Obama’s healthcare bill when it seems, superficially at any rate, to offer millions more people a chance of decent health care. The Democrats love to portray the Republicans as selfish people obstructing the provision of healthcare to millions of their fellow Americans. This may explain their [...] Related posts: … Read More
Jim McVeagh • Dec 23, 2009 •
Euthanasia is a topic not unlike abortion, in that it generates a great deal of heat in a conversation and very little light. Like abortion, it is being practiced in New Zealand. Unlike abortion, there is no set of rules to guide it’s use and overt euthanasia often meets the business end of Law Enforcement [...] Related posts: … Read More
Jim McVeagh • Dec 12, 2009 •
The Abortion Supervisory Committee are pushing for more use of the abortifacient, RU486. They say that it is being used in only 6% of abortions while the “standard” overseas is 20 – 30%. Now I don’t have a problem with RU486 being used instead of a surgical termination of pregnancy (leaving aside the whole abortion issue [...] Related posts: … Read More
Jim McVeagh • Nov 10, 2009 •
I have a great deal of misgiving about the attempt of a couple to claim under ACC for the accident of their daughter’s birth. Their daughter’s spina bifida (open spine at birth) was not discovered on ultrasound and, as the parents insist that they would have aborted her, if they had known, they are trying [...] Related posts: … Read More
Jim McVeagh • Nov 03, 2009 •
This Month’s British Journal of Psychiatry carries a research paper that should make all doctors signing abortion certificates on the basis of mental health concerns, think twice. The paper elegantly demonstrates that abortion worsens mental health outcomes. Unfortunately, I can only link to this article, rather than the paper itself, which is behind a pay-wall. [...] Related posts: … Read More