Abstract
Conscientious objection by health professionals is a global phenomenon. Worldwide, reproductive health care (e.g., abortion and contraception) is the most common basis of conscience-based refusals, but other healthcare services have also prompted conscientious objections. This entry defines conscientious objection; presents reasons for permitting health professionals to refuse to provide, assist in providing, or offer information about a healthcare service for reasons of conscience; identifies the potential impact of conscience-based refusals on patient access and on other providers and healthcare institutions; explains alternative approaches to resolving conflicts between providers’ integrity interests and patients’ access interests; and considers the status of conscience-based refusals by health professionals in international and national law.
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Further Reading
Lynch, H. F. (2008). Conflicts of conscience in health care: An institutional compromise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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Wicclair, M. (2013). Conscience. In H. LaFollette (Ed.), International encyclopedia of ethics (Vol. 2, pp. 1009–1020). Hoboken: Wiley.
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Wicclair, M.R. (2014). Conscientious Objection. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_118-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_118-1
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