A judge has ruled that a patient with bowel problems should be allowed to die rather than live with a stoma bag. A stoma is an opening in the abdomen and a bag is attached to collect faeces or urine. One bowel cancer charity said it was ‘tragic’ that death is seen as a…
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The Scottish Government has come under increasing pressure to modify its Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, with critics warning it can be weaponised to destroy free speech. The bill seeks to extend the current laws on ‘hate crimes’ against particular characteristics, including religion, race, sexual orientation, and transgender identity. Ciarán Kelly, deputy…
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The Northern Ireland (NI) Assembly has voted to pass a motion to reject recent changes to abortion laws in Northern Ireland. The new abortion regulations, drawn up by Westminster while Stormont was not sitting, came into force in March after a vote in 2019. The motion, brought by the DUP, passed by 46 votes…
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A leaked government report says Boris Johnson will scrap plans to allow people to change their legal gender by ‘self-identifying’ as male or female. In addition, the government is preparing to set out new safeguards to protect female-only spaces, such as changing rooms. The move is likely to anger transgender activists who object to…
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The House of Commons has passed a government bill to make divorce even quicker and easier than it already is. MPs voted in favour of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill which has already passed the House of Lords. Currently, for a couple to start divorce proceedings immediately, one spouse has to allege that…
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An MP has spoken out in Parliament fearing that the Domestic Abuse Bill could be ‘hijacked’ to liberalise the law on abortion. Gavin Robinson MP is a barrister and Democratic Unionist Party politician from Belfast in Northern Ireland. Speaking during a debate on the Domestic Abuse Bill he warned that some MPs ‘would seek…
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Alina Dulgheriu, the young mother who challenged a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) around an abortion facility in the London Borough of Ealing, has announced she will submit her case to the European Court of Human Rights. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom refused permission to appeal in March, leaving the European Court…
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The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has finally pulled its controversial LGBT hate-crime guidance for schools following legal action by a 14-year-old girl. The guidance, which had been published in January this year, warned schools they could be taken to court if they do not allow transgender pupils to use the toilets and changing rooms…
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A Christian adoption and fostering agency which finds homes for children with complex needs has gone to court because officials have said its Christian ethos is discriminatory. Ofsted — which is responsible for inspecting such agencies — downgraded the Cornerstone agency because it holds to a biblical view of marriage. Supporters of the Cornerstone…
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The European Court of Human Rights has refused to hear the case of two midwives who were denied employment in Sweden because they refused to perform abortions. The two midwives, Ellinor Grimmark and Linda Steen, were told their application was ‘inadmissible’. Their lawyers have called the decision a ‘dangerous departure from protecting fundamental freedom’.…
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Covid-19 emergency planning and the subsequent lockdown saw the Scottish government stop work on plans to make changing legal sex much easier. The Scottish government has proposed making sweeping changes to allow anyone to change legal sex by self-declaration within just six months, remove the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and…
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Campaigners have welcomed a statement from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) which confirmed it does not support changing the law to allow assisted dying. In March 2019, the RCP adopted a position of ‘neutrality’ on the issue of whether UK law should change to allow assisted dying. This came after a survey of…
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