Patricia L Selby
Extract
In 2004 the Michigan House passed a bill called the “Conscientious Objector Policy Act.”. . . The bill as passed reflected no balancing of or respect for patients’ rights to autonomy, or their other needs and interests.
This article traces brief histories of health care conscience clauses and the patient’s right to informed consent. It analyzes the bill in the context of patients’s rights, and proposes alternative approaches to restore balance to the patient-provider relationship, while maintaining providers’ right to conscience. The article’s final section evaluates a variety of potential legal challenges to protect patients if the bill is re-introduced unchanged.
Selby PL. Patient Rights Disappear Under Broad Protective Measures for Conscientious Objectors in Health Care. U Detroit Mercy Law Rev. 2006;83(4):507-541.