Journal News Archives - Protection of Conscience Project Library

(News) Woman suing two pharmacies after being denied emergency contraception

The US case brings to light concerns around conscientious objection at a time when a federal religious discrimination bill is being debated in Australia

Sheshtyn Paola

Exract
A woman has filed a lawsuit against a Thrifty White Pharmacy and a CVS Pharmacy in Minnesota in the US, alleging the two pharmacies illegally kept her from accessing emergency contraception.

Andrea Anderson, a 39-year-old mother of five, says she asked the pharmacist at her drugstore in Minnesota more than once why he couldn’t fill her prescription for emergency contraception, according to the Star Tribune.

“I then realised what was happening: he was refusing to fill my prescription for emergency contraception because he did not believe in it,” Ms Anderson said on Tuesday.

Paola S. Woman suing two pharmacies after being denied emergency contraception. Australian Pharm J [Internet]. 2019 Dec 12.

(News) Controversy over doctors’ right to say “no”: The most controversial issues relate to abortion referrals or prescribing birth control

Wendy Glauser

Canadian Medical Association Journal, CMAJ — Canadian Medical Association Journal

Extract
Religious groups, doctor’s organizations, ethicists and abortion rights advocates are raising concerns around the review of an Ontario policy that outlines, among other things, physicians’ right to object to patients’ requests for services on moral grounds.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s Physicians and Ontario Human Rights Code is up for its five-year review, with both public and expert opinion being sought. . .

Glauser W. Controversy over doctors’ right to say “no”: The most controversial issues relate to abortion referrals or prescribing birth control. CMAJ September 16, 2014 186:E483-E484; published ahead of print August 18, 2014

(News) Sex selection migrates to Canada

Lauren Vogel

Extract
Easy access to abortion and advances in prenatal sex determination have combined to make Canada a haven for parents who would terminate female fetuses in favour of having sons, despite overwhelming censure of the practice, economists and bioethics experts say.

Arguing that Canadian lawmakers’ silence on the issue is undermining the status of women, they’re calling for federal legislation to uphold societal and professional values opposing sex-selective abortion, either through a direct ban or restrictions on the disclosure of fetal gender. They also contend that sex-selective abortion is forcing physicians to compromise between their ethical obligations to discourage sex selection and legal obligations to respect their patients’ autonomy. . .

Vogel L. Sex Selection Migrates to Canada CMAJ January 16, 2012 cmaj.109-4091

(News) Scientific misconduct is worryingly prevalent in the UK, shows BMJ survey

Aniket Tavare

British Medical Journal, BMJ — British Medical Journal

Extract
One in seven UK based scientists or doctors has witnessed colleagues intentionally altering or fabricating data during their research or for the purposes of publication, found a survey of more than 2700 researchers conducted by the BMJ.

The survey, which was emailed to 9036 academics and clinicians who had submitted articles to the BMJ or acted as peer reviewers for the journal (response rate 31%), found that 13% of these researchers admitted knowledge of colleagues “inappropriately adjusting, excluding, altering, or fabricating data” for the purpose of publication.

Tavare A. Scientific misconduct is worryingly prevalent in the UK, shows BMJ survey. BMJ2012;344:e377

(News) Morals, medicine and geography

Roger Collier

(Article compares approach to freedom of conscience in health care in the US and Canada)
Extract
Advocates of compulsory referral claim that doctors who discriminate against certain practices are, whether they know it or not, also discriminating against certain people — namely, the poor, the uneducated and those in remote areas. These people already have limited access to medical services, a problem that, all sides agree, is exacerbated when their doctors refuse to present them with all their options.

Collier R. Morals, medicine and geography. Can Med Assoc J. 2008 Nov 04;179(10):996-997.

Russia: update on animal experiments and alternatives in education

Nick Jukes

Abstract
Progress continues in Russia with growing awareness and implementation of alternatives in education. Further outreach visits and negotiations for replacement have been made by InterNICHE campaigners. Russian language information resources have been complemented by the distribution of translated freeware physiology and pharmacology alternatives; and the InterNICHE Alternatives Loan Systems continue to provide valuable hands-on access to a range of learning tools. Donations of computers and alternatives have established exemplary multimedia laboratories, with software having directly replaced the annual use of several thousand animals. New agreements have been made with institutes to abandon animal experiments for teaching purposes. Work to consolidate the successes is being done, and Russian teachers have begun to present at conferences to share their experiences of implementation. Further development and implementation of alternatives is being achieved through grant funding from the InterNICHE Humane Education Award. Using a different approach, cases of determined conscientious objection have included a campaign against the use of stolen companion animals for surgery practice in the Russian Far East, and a continuing legal challenge to experiments at Moscow State University. This multi-pronged, decentralised and culturally appropriate campaigning strategy has proved to be an effective approach to achieving sustainable change in Russia..

Jukes N. Russia: update on animal experiments and alternatives in education. Alternatives to Animal Experimentation (ALTEX). 2008;25(1):56-62.

(News) Doctors who give lethal injections should be punished, says Amnesty

Caroline White

Extract
Doctors and other healthcare staff who take any part in executions by lethal injection should be punished by their professional bodies, says the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.

White C. Doctors who give lethal injections should be punished, says Amnesty. Br Med J. 2007 Oct 6;335(7622):690.

(News) Abortion payment

Barbara Sibbald

Extract
The New Brunswick government is refusing to pay for abortions performed at private clinics, despite renewed warnings from Ottawa. Federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh told the province it is violating the Canada Health Act . . . New Brunswick medicare only pays for abortions up to 12 weeks, performed in hospitals with the approval of 2 physicians. About 600 women a year pay up to 750 for the procedure at the Morgentaler clinic.

Sibbald B. Abortion payment. Can Med Assoc J. 2005 Mar 1;172(5):624.

(News) Slow progress to reproductive rights

Jocalyn Clark

Extract
Religious fundamentalism and a lack of resources are the chief barriers to achieving sexual and reproductive rights for all by 2015, concluded the 2004 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) . . . Katherine McDonald, president of Action Canada for Population and Development, said that advocates of the Cairo consensus have been overly distracted by their efforts to isolate and shame US and conservative backlash and must reinvest in a commitment to human rights. “In-depth policy analyses of sexual, reproductive, and abortion rights are lacking,” she said.

Clark J. Slow progress to reproductive rights. Can Med Assoc J. 2004;171(8):841.

(New) “Abortion pill” use

Barbara Sibbald

Extract
Three years after the US government approved mifepristone (Mifeprex or RU-486), use of the so-called “abortion pill” has increased 70%. . . . Mifepristone, a progesterone blocker, induces abortion in women who are up to 8 weeks pregnant.

Sibbald B. “Abortion pill” use. Can Med Assoc J. 2004 Sep 28;171(7):718.