Professional right of conscience.

Full Abstract

In recent years there have been numerous media reports of professionals attempting to expand the right of conscience and deny health care services requested by consumers. While the media has focused the most attention on pharmacists' right to refuse access to contraception, this trend is an expansion of the right originally established to protect professionals from being required to perform abortions or to provide direct assistance with abortions. State legislatures have addressed this issue, in some cases by overtly protecting consumers' rights and in other cases by broadening professional right of conscience. In this article, the literature on provider right of conscience is reviewed, and approaches advised by professional organizations are discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Beal, Margaret W (MW); Cappiello, Joyce (J);

Affiliation: MGH Institute of Health Professions, Charlestown Navy Yard, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129-4557, USA. margaret.beal(-atsign-)yale.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of midwifery & women's health (J Midwifery Womens Health), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2008 Sep-Oct; vol 53 (issue 5) : pp 406-12; quiz 487-8

Dates: Created 2008/09/01; Completed 2009/01/08;

PMID: 18761293, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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