tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32774679.post859444013758082838..comments2023-11-15T07:14:06.265+00:00Comments on Catholic Action UK: GMC: Catholic doctors must cooperate with abortionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32774679.post-14362023396042481792008-03-25T15:42:00.000+00:002008-03-25T15:42:00.000+00:00Thank you. All our readers should pray for Catholi...Thank you. All our readers should pray for Catholic doctors. Difficult times lie ahead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32774679.post-64449758719614774072008-03-24T20:13:00.000+00:002008-03-24T20:13:00.000+00:00I had already read this "guidance" published by th...I had already read this "guidance" published by the GMC. As a GP, a reference to it in a doctors' magazine caught my eye, so I looked it up on the GMC website.<BR/><BR/>The relevant section was well down the document, but I found it & felt duly appalled, but not the slightest bit surprised. Having read medical discussion boards on the internet, the majority of the doctors posting there seem to have neither sympathy for, nor understanding of issues of conscience. Very few countries have a true respect for freedom of speech or conscience, and over recent years the intolerance of free speech in this country has steadily worsened.<BR/><BR/>This latest "guidance" from the GMC, is of a piece with the 3 line whip the government has placed on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. The independance of the GMC from government control has been steadily eroded, by constant attacks on its integrity whenever its findings have been unpopular. This has left it dependent on the government for its authority, rather than on the respect of patients and doctors.<BR/><BR/>The only place our current masters have for tolerance is to demand it from their opponents towards their pet projects; it is not a two way street. When England was supposedly a Catholic country, neither Henry II nor Henry VIII had much time for opposition on the grounds of conscientios objection. I find it hardly surprising that our anti-clerical (not merely secular) government is so openly coercive of doctors who object to its policies on moral grounds.<BR/><BR/>Unlike our "Catholic" cabinet members and Labour MPs, I hope I would not simply wring my hands if confronted by a conflict between my conscience and my alleged "ethical" duties as a doctor. I hope I would have the courage to do as my conscience requires, and let events take their course thereafter. I am sure the penalties would be much less than in times gone by, and I could eventually appeal to Strasbourg, which is not subject to control from Downing Street.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com