Service, not Servitude
Extract
I would like to point out that other prominent medical journals have published research reports on harmful effects associated with abortion. . . . It would appear that the study by Reardon and associates published recently in CMAJ is not the first to present empirical evidence that abortion is a severe risk factor for substantial emotional and physical trauma.
Banno AD. (Correspondence) Abortion perils debated. Can Med Assoc J. 2003;169(2):101-102.
Abstract
Between 1939 and 1945, 180,000 psychiatric patients were killed in Nazi Germany. This paper opens with a brief discussion of the reasons for addressing this issue today; it is followed by the details of the so-called euthanasia program that entailed killing of patients by gas in special hospitals in the years 1939-1941, and in psychiatric hospitals in the years 1942-1945. In this latter period, patients were killed with lethal injections and through the introduction of a starvation diet. The fate of the Jewish patients and forced laborers, as well as the experiments conducted on the patients, are mentioned. Finally, some thoughts are presented to answer the question of why this could have happened. To me, the giving up of individual responsibility in an authoritarian system leads to the loss of the individual conscience and soul, including those of a psychiatrist.
Cranach MV. The Killing of Psychiatric Patients in Nazi-Germany between 1939-1945. Israeli J Psych & Related Sciences. 2003;40(1):8-18
A presentation by the same title with a similar abstract was presented at a meeting of the Israel Psychiatric Association, Jerusalem, 6th of December 2001.
Extract
James Kopp has been found guilty of murdering New York state obstetrician Dr. Barnett Slepian, but police are still trying to close other cases involving Canadian physicians who were shot. Kopp remains a suspect in the non- fatal shootings of physicians who provided abortions in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Ancaster, Ont. He has been charged in the last case — Dr. Hugh Short was shot in the right arm as he sat in his home Nov. 10, 1995 (CMAJ 1998;159[9]:1153-5) — but there is in- sufficient evidence linking him to the Winnipeg or Vancouver cases.
Sibbald B. Police still investigating sniper attacks on MDs. Can Med Assoc J. 2003 May 27;168(11):1456.
Abstract
Television images of torture chambers in Iraq and reports of the escalating use of torture in Zimbabwe remind us that this form of state-sponsored abuse continues unabated in many parts of the world. . . It is timely, therefore, to consider the reasons for the inadequate attention given to the topic by health professionals.
Silove D. Overcoming obstacles in confronting torture. The Lancet. 2003 May 3;361(9368):1555.
Extract
Findings. The essence of the nurse supervisors’ decision-making style is deliberations and priorities. The nurse supervisors’ willingness, preparedness, knowledge and awareness constitute and form their way of creating a relationship. The nurse supervisors’ ethical approach focused on patient situations and ethical principles. The core components of nursing supervision interventions, as demonstrated in supervision sessions, are: guilt, reconciliation, integrity, responsibility, conscience and challenge. The nurse supervisors’ interventions involved sharing knowledge and values with the supervisees and recognizing them as nurses and human beings.
Conclusion. Nurse supervisors frequently reflected upon the ethical principle of autonomy and the concept and substance of integrity. The nurse supervisors used an ethical approach that focused on caring situations in order to enhance the provision of patient care. They acted as role models, shared nursing knowledge and ethical codes, and focused on patient related situations. This type of decision-making can strengthen the supervisees’ professional identity. The clinical nurse supervisors in the study were experienced and used evaluation decisions as their form of clinical decision-making activity. The findings underline the need for further research and greater knowledge in order to improve the understanding of the ethical approach to supervision.
Berggren I, Severinsson E. Nurse supervisors’ actions in relation to their decision-making style and ethical approach to clinical supervision. J Adv Nurs. 2003;41(6):615-622.
Abstract
The legal approach to abortion is evolving from criminal prohibition towards accommodation as a life-preserving and health-preserving option, particularly in light of data on maternal mortality and morbidity. Modern momentum for liberalization comes from international adoption of the concept of reproductive health, and wider recognition that the resort to safe and dignified healthcare is a major human right. Respect for women’s reproductive self-determination legitimizes abortion as a choice when family planning services have failed, been inaccessible, or been denied by rape. Recognition of women’s rights of equal citizenship with men requires that their choices for self-determination be legally respected, not criminalized.
Cook RJ, Dickens BM. Human Rights Dynamics of Abortion Law Reform. Hum Rights Quart. 2003 Feb;25(1):1-59. Available from:
Extract
The number of prescriptions issued for mifepristone (RU-486), the “abortion pill” introduced in the US 2 years ago, is increasing more rapidly than expected, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) says. . . The PPFA says the success of the new method is important because “the lack of abortion providers is an acute problem in the United States.”.
Sibbald B. Popularity of “abortion pill” grows in US. Can Med Assoc J. 2003 Jan 21;168(2):211.
Extract
This article focuses on . . . the locus and extent of legal decision-making power as regards the disabled fetus. It does this by exploring how the relationship between the law of abortion and that of wrongful birth affects the scope of a pregnant woman’s decision-making abilities in this context. . . .In order to reflect on how the law shapes and controls a woman’s (or couple’s) autonomy in this context, the article considers both the non- rights-based English legal position on abortion and its rights-based US counterpart, in addition to exploring aspects of the law of wrongful birth in both jurisdictions. It also makes some suggestions as to the value of autonomy in this context and how extensive it should be at law, although the opportunity to do so here is limited. The discussion entails reflection on the role of the medical profession, the relationship between autonomy and reasons and the interests of people with disabilities or impairments.
Scott R. Prenatal screening, autonomy and reasons: the relationship between the law of abortion and wrongful birth. Med Law Rev. 2003 Jan 01; 11(3):265-325.
Abstract
In this essay I shall describe and analyse the current debate on physician assisted suicide in contemporary German Protestant church and theology. It will be shown that the Protestant (mainly Lutheran) Church in Germany together with her Roman Catholic sister church has a specific and influential position in the public discussion: The two churches counting the majority of the population in Germany among their members tend to ‘‘organize” a social and political consensus on end-of-life questions. This cooperation is until now very successful: Speaking with one voice on end-of-life questions, the two churches function as the guardians of a moral consensus which is appreciated even by many non-believers. . .I shall argue that it will be necessary to go beyond this actual controversy to the works of Gerhard Ebeling and Karl Barth for a clear and instructive account of conscience and a theological analysis of the concepts of life and suicide. On the basis of their considerations, a conscience-related approach to physician assisted suicide is developed.
Bartmann P. Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: German Protestantism, Conscience, and the Limits of Purely Ethical Reflection. Christ Bioet. 2003;9(3):203-225.
Abstract
The South African Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 gives women the right to voluntary abortion on request. The reality factor, however, is that five years later there are still more ‘technically illegal’ abortions than legal ones. Amongst other factors, one of the main obstacles to access to this constitutionally enshrined human right is the right to conscientious objection/refusal. Although the right to conscientious objection is also a basic human right, the case of refusal to provide abortion services on conscientious objection grounds should not be seen as absolute and inalienable, at least in the developing world. In the developed world, where referral to another service provider is for the most part accessible, a conscientious objector to abortion does not really put the abortion seeker’s life at risk. The same cannot be said in developing countries even when abortion is decriminalised. This is because referral procedures are fraught with major obstacles. Therefore, it is argued that the right to conscientious objection to abortion should be limited by the circumstances in which the request for abortion arises.
Bogaert L-JV. The Limits of Conscientious Objection to Abortion in the Developing World. Dev World Bioeth. 2002;2(2):131-143.