Protection of Conscience Project Library
Service, not Servitude
Extract
The CMA should have asked prolife physicians “Do you believe that the threat to a woman’s life should be the only indication for abortion?” In my experience most pro-life advocates believe not that there is absolutely no indication for abortion, but that abortion is indicated only in serious circumstances.
Coffey PG. (Correspondence) The CMA abortion survey. Can Med Assoc J. 1983 Dec 15;129(12):1260.
Extract
I am saddened and a little shocked to find that nearly 50% of the medical profession in Canada would terminate pregnancy at the wishes of the patient. We are supposed to be a profession, but what do we profess to do?
Brown D. (Correspondence) The CMA abortion survey. Can Med Assoc J. 1983;129(12):1260.
Extract
I find the CMA abortion survey disturbing and completely unsatisfying. Without exception, all the questions assume that abortion is acceptable and can therefore be neatly compartmentalized to facilitate its performance. Nothing could be further who initially did not want their babies did want them once they were born,’ some individuals may ignore this normal evolution of maternal feelings. . . . slightly more than half of the respondents would refuse to terminate a pregnancy solely at the “woman’s request”. . . . Everyone knows that few, if any, terminations of pregnancy are therapeutic, although many are pathogenic. . .
de Bellefeuille P. (Correspondence) The CMA abortion survey. Can Med Assoc J. 1983;129(12):1259-1260.
Extract
I disagree with Dr. Morton S. Rapp on a number of the points he made in his letter . . . Dr. Rapp must realize that no one compels any woman or man to become a parent. He must also realize that there is no ethical choice when an innocent life is destroyed. . . Abortion is a violent act and the ultimate in child abuse. Dr. Rapp must agree that child abuse has increased markedly with the increase in abortions and presumably the birth of only wanted children. A study done by Dr. Philip Ney, a well known children’s psychiatrist, proved that the increase in abortions has led to an increase in child abuse and frequently to abuse of wanted children.
Kazun W. (Correspondence) Abortion. Can Med Assoc J. 1983 Aug 15;129(4):320.
Journal Extract
I read Dr. Thomasma’s article (1) with skepticism. All models for the doctor-patient relationship are shortsighted as they do not acknowledge systems of relationships beyond that of the physician and the patient. Despite this inherent shortcoming, Thomasma’s model contains two characteristics that distinguish it from other such models. Both the strength of his physician conscience model and its greatest limitations exist in these two characteristics. First, his model requires that physicians assess beliefs, attitudes, and emotions they recognize in response to their patients in an effort to determine how these factors influence the health care they provide. . .
Connelly JE. (Correspondence) Paternalism and the Physician’s Conscience. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Aug 01;99(22):276.
Extract
Therapeutic abortions have been extensively condemned for religious and moral reasons; these arguments have not been strong enough to prevent them. This objective statistical analysis poses an argument for all those who require a different approach to the problem. The child of the woman you persuade not to undergo an abortion today may be the person whose productivity will save your existence tomorrow.
Campo CD. (Correspondence) An objective social reason to reconsider abortions. Can Med Assoc J. 1983 Jul 01;129(1):12.
Abstract
Medical paternalism lies at the heart of traditional medicine. In an effort to counteract the effects of this paternalism, medical ethicists and physicians have proposed a model of patient autonomy for the physician patient relationship. However, neither paternalism or autonomy are adequate characterizations of the physician patient relationship. Paternalism does not respect the rights of adults to self-determination, and autonomy does not respect the principle of beneficence that leads physicians to argue that acting on behalf of others is essential to their craft. A model of physician conscience is proposed that summarizes the best features of both models-paternalism and autonomy.
Thomasma DC. Beyond Medical Paternalism and Patient Autonomy: A Model of Physician Conscience for the Physician-Patient Relationship. Ann. Intern. Med.. 1983;98(2):243-248.
(This lengthy editorial was repeated verbatim in 1993. It includes the following)
Extract
“No nurse should be required to give any drug if (a) she is not competent to give it or (b) she has problems of conscience with regard to its administration. If, for these reasons, a nurse refuses to give a drug, another nurse may do so. The original nurse should receive inservice and/or counseling. If she still has conscientious objections, she should not be coerced. The patient’s right to have/refuse a drug should be protected by meticulous adherence to the principles and procedures of informed consent. However, his right to the drug is not greater than another human being’s (the nurse’s) obligation to practice with integrity. Therefore, if one nurse will not give the drug – the head nurse, coordinator or supervisor should give the drug.” If none of these nurses can, in conscience, administer the drug, then the physician who ordered it must give It himself or find another physician who will do it for him..
Curtin LL. (Editorial) A Nurse’s Conscience. Nurs Manag. 1983 Feb;14(2):7-8
Extract
Throughout the 1 970s and early 1 980s the issue of abortion was causing such concern that, at its 1981 meeting in Halifax, General Council directed the association “to review the situation with respect to therapeutic abortions in Canada”. As part of this review, the Board of Directors decided to go to the grassroots or the association and to ask individual physicians what their opinions were, not only on the procedural aspects of the current legislation, but also on the ethical and moral aspects of terminating a pregnancy. . . . With the help of an outside consultant, we then drew the names of 2000 physicians from the associations membership file to get a statistically valid sample, proportionally representative of our membership by province and by specialty.
Sylva ND. CMA reviews its position. Can Med Assoc J. 1983;128(1):57.