And if the underlying issue is that the NHS is focusing on the appearance of secularity rather than the actual substantive issues, that should be the focus of this discourse!

So far (watching live on PBS) they don't appear to be focusing there

But simply telling them not to wear habits doesn't help any of this.

I wouldn't feel safe receiving ob/gyn care from a nun, and forcing her to expose more of her body than she's comfortable with wouldn't fix the problem - it would make me feel additionally unsafe with the medical system!

I myself would never consent to receiving ob/gyn care from a nun, because I wouldn't trust that someone whose primary vocation is religious would meet needs like contraception, abortion, family planning, etc.

Would single mothers and queer folk and non-christians be safe in this context? That's a conversation worth having - and one where Nonnatus could rise to the occasion!

I received that advice constantly as a teen, as well as more future-looking advice about how you should always be able to financially support and run every aspect of your household in case your husband turns out to be a deadbeat.

(I'm old, so all relationship advice I received as a teen was heterocentric)

From this, I concluded that this unreliability was the price of admission for dating, and I'd have to put up with it if I didn't want to die an unkissed virgin.

This is good, practical, pragmatic advice.

But we should add something to it:

Not getting you home safely, not being reliable about paying when they said they would, etc., is not the behaviour of a person who likes you.

And someone who wants to date you should be behaving as though they like you.