Robert F Card Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Protection of Conscience Project Library

Should Professional Associations Sanction Conscientious Refusals? (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

Inmaculada de Melo-Martin

Extract
Notice that I am not defending the argument that pharmacists have no right to exercise conscientious refusals. My point is that a professional organization’s policy allowing such refusals cannot be squared with a code of ethics that calls for pharmacists to put concern for the well-being of patients at the center of their professional practice. In fact, such a policy establishes the appropriateness of ignoring the code’s principles anytime a pharmacist has a problem of conscience.

de Melo-Martin I. Should Professional Associations Sanction Conscientious Refusals? (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception). Am J Bioeth. 2007;7(6):23-24.

Conscientious Objection: Does the Zero-Probability Argument Work? (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

Greg Loeben, Michelle A Chui

Extract
It seems clear from these observations that Card (2007) uses the zero probability argument as a bit of a straw man. The conscientious objector does not rely on such a simplistic claim. In fact, conscientious objection can and should be evaluated in light of a variety of components, rather than the mere possibility that one’s actions will contribute to an unethical result. Specifically, conscientious objection appears to be made more plausible by a variety of factors, including the likelihood, intentionality, causal directness, degree of consensus, and not least, the severity of the unethical action.

Loeben G, Chui MA. Conscientious Objection: Does the Zero-Probability Argument Work? (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception). Am J Bioeth. 2007 Jun;7(6):28-30.

The Necessity of Conscience and the Unspoken Ends of Medicine (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

John J Hardt

Extract
The difficulties lie in those cases in which there is disagreement about the ends of medicine and the obligations they impose on its practitioners. It may very well be the case that in focusing our attention on particular acts of conscientious objection, we will fail to attend to the underlying and more pressing need to engage once again in a conversation on the nature of medicine and its proper ends. . . . It is here, I would suggest, that one will find the root cause of much of our current, heated debate about conscience and, perhaps, some possible resolution.

Hardt JJ. The Necessity of Conscience and the Unspoken Ends of Medicine (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception). Am J Bioeth. 2007;7(6):18-19.

When to Grant Conscientious Objector Status (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

Ronald A Lindsay

Extract
Provided the physician notifies the patient as soon as possible of any limitations on services and promptly assists the patient with referrals to other physicians, physicians should be allowed to refuse to provide some services. However, once the patient and physician have decided on a course of action, they should be able to rely on the cooperation of other healthcare workers. The last thing we need is to complicate our healthcare system even further by allowing pharmacists, nurses, and others to obstruct a person’s healthcare decisions based on their sectarian beliefs.

Lindsay RA. When to Grant Conscientious Objector Status (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception). Am J Bioethcs. 2007 Jun 01 ;7(6):25-26. Available from:

The Pharmacist’s Personal and Professional Integrity (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

(Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

Howard Brody, Susan S Night

Extract
We conclude that, although a “duty to refer” may not describe very well an actual, working policy that effectively balances the duties of personal and professional integrity for the objecting pharmacist, Card’s (2007) mandatory-service policy fails at a basic level to respect the dual dictates of personal and professional integrity. A policy that attempts to maximize the extent to which both duties can be fulfilled might be denounced by Card as a “moderate” policy in the sense that he finds objectionable. Nonetheless, it is ethically the soundest option.

Brody H, Night SS. The Pharmacist’s Personal and Professional Integrity (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception). Am J Bioeth. 2007;7(6):16-17.

Moral Disagreement and Providing Emergency Contraception: A Pluralistic Alternative (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception)

Noam Zohar

Extract
Thus my conclusion is not very far from Card’s, but it rests on very different grounds. A pluralistic framework leads to an expectation that the pharmacist provide EC, even while acknowledging the legitimacy of his view that using it is wrong. The pharmacist should in this kind of case respect and yield to the differing view of the client. Yet in other kinds of situations—such as when what is required is direct action, as distinct from mere assistance—conscientious objection should sometimes be allowed.

Zohar N. Moral Disagreement and Providing Emergency Contraception: A Pluralistic Alternative (Conscientious Objection and Emergency Contraception). Am. J. Bioeth.. 2007;7(6):35-36.

Conscientious objection and emergency contraception

Robert F Card

Abstract
This article argues that practitioners have a professional ethical obligation to dispense emergency contraception, even given conscientious objection to this treatment. This recent controversy affects all medical professionals, including physicians as well as pharmacists. This article begins by analyzing the option of referring the patient to another willing provider. Objecting professionals may conscientiously refuse because they consider emergency contraception to be equivalent to abortion or because they believe contraception itself is immoral. This article critically evaluates these reasons and concludes that they do not successfully support conscientious objection in this context. Contrary to the views of other thinkers, it is not possible to easily strike a respectful balance between the interests of objecting providers and patients in this case. As medical professionals, providers have an ethical duty to inform women of this option and provide emergency contraception when this treatment is requested.

Card RF. Conscientious objection and emergency contraception. Am. J. Bioeth. 2007;7(6):8-14.