Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 63(1) February 2013

In this issue

We are delighted to publish an article by Andrew Pollard which sets out an entirely different way of thinking about world population.  The population issue has so often been used to discredit the teaching of the Church on the family and we had hoped to include it in the last edition of the quarterly. It sits well alongside any discussion of Humanae Vitae.  Andrew is an able academic who has set out well why we need to think again about world population. For those who  doubt his views, perhaps a moments reflection upon the pensions crises, the elderly care crises and the fiscal crises that beset ageing populations, will at least make us think again.  As Dr Pollard states:-

 “The real population “time bomb” is for most parts of the world a “dearth” bomb not a “birth” bomb. Those who advocate lower births so as to reduce a country’s population, such as the UK, need to explain how they will staff the hospitals in the future and how they will fund the Welfare State.”

 

And we are also very pleased to look at the issue of abortion, midwifery and Catholicism from an international perspective.  It is clear that midwives across the world struggle as they try to practice according to their faith in settings where that is a real challenge; so it is a timely article.

 

Finally we are very pleased to publish a record of discussions within the CMA Ethics Committee about ways in which we may be able to support and advise women who  request abortions.