By Xavier Symons A newly released edition of the journal Perspectives in Medicine and Biology focuses on the theme of conscience in healthcare, and seeks to provide a deeper analysis of how conscience relates to good medical practice. The themed issue of Perspectives comes in the wake of two other themed editions of major bioethics …
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By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition On November 7, the Alberta Legislature had first reading on Conscience Rights (Health care Providers) Protection Act, Bill 207, a private members bill that is sponsored by Member of the Legislative Assembly Dan Williams. Bill 207 then passed its first vote along party lines with 36 United …
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By Michael Cook One of the hottest topics in bioethics today is conscientious objection (CO). Although the clamour is loudest in the corner where the debate is over whether CO has a right to exist, most writers and legislators believe that there is some room for CO in healthcare. The question is how much room. …
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A New South Wales bill could deter some of the brightest and best from entering health services By Greg Walsh One of the main concerns about the Bill recently introduced to amend New South Wales [NSW] laws on abortion is how health practitioners with a conscientious objection to participating in abortion will be regulated. Under …
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By Alexa Moutevelis Coombs Recently, the University of Vermont Medical Center was accused of forcing a nurse to assist with an abortion against her will, a violation of federal conscience rights laws. According to Vice, the fact that a pro-life nurse objected to performing an abortion “shows we need to be more discerning about who …
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By Wesley J. Smith There was a day in the not-too-distant past when physicians were respected, even revered, as learned professionals. We understood that doctors followed a “higher calling.” Indeed, physicians were expected to adhere to a code of conduct—epitomized by the Hippocratic Oath’s venerable injunction, “do no harm.” Times have changed. The old hierarchies …
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By SPUC — the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children A Vermont nurse has been left ‘traumatised’ after a hospital ‘violated her civil rights’, by forcing her to partake in an abortion procedure, despite her deep-held moral objections. The nurse, who has not been named, believed that she would be participating in a procedure …
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By Dave Andrusko Editor’s note. My family and I will be on our vacation through August 27. I will occasionally add new items but for the most part we will repost “the best of the best” — the stories our readers have told us they especially liked. This post won’t be long but I think …
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By Dave Andrusko Talk about time flying! Had not the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) sent out an advisory tonight, I would have completely forgotten that it was a year ago today that the Supreme Court did the right thing in NIFLA v. Becerra. Preceding the 5-4 decision (it should have been …
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By Michael Cook Conscientious objection must be one of the hottest topics in bioethics at the moment. In the US, the Trump Administration is trying to permit it; in Canada, the Ontario government is trying to snuff It out. It would be helpful if we could agree on what conscience is — then we could …
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Doctors must refer patients for ‘medical assistance in dying’ By Michael Cook Back in 2006, Oxford University’s Professor Julian Savulescu published a frontal attack on the notion of conscientious objection in medicine in the BMJ [British Medical Journal], a popular medical journal. At the time it seemed odd rather than dangerous, the dream of an …
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By Wesley J. Smith The culture of death brooks no dissent. In Canada, doctors have been ordered to bend the knee. Here’s the story: The Canadian Charter (Constitution) guarantees “freedom of conscience and religion”— a stronger and more explicit protection of religious liberty than our First Amendment. After the Supreme Court created a right to …
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