{"id":5058,"date":"2013-03-02T00:50:50","date_gmt":"2013-03-02T08:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5058"},"modified":"2023-01-28T15:16:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T23:16:19","slug":"not-only-the-doctors-dilemma-the-complexity-of-conscience-in-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5058","title":{"rendered":"Not Only the Doctor\u2019s Dilemma: The Complexity of Conscience in Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"bibliography wp-block-heading\">Elizabeth Sepper<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\\03\/faulknerlawrev.jpg\" alt=\"Faulkner Law Review\" class=\"wp-image-11540\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Faulkner Law Review<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><br>In recent years, conscience has become a national catch phrase, invoked regularly in health policy discussions. The word \u201cconscience,\u201d however, often stands in for refusal to deliver abortions or contraception or to remove or withhold life support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this talk, I argue that conscience is not so one-sided, nor medical decisionmaking so straightforward. First, medical decisions &#8211; especially those involving questions of life and death &#8211; inspire divergent moral convictions. Second, medical decisions do not simply implicate conscience for the provider. They should be thought of instead as involving, at minimum, three parties: patients, providers, and institutions. This three-sided relationship complicates moral decisionmaking, with each party asserting potentially conflicting claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I contend that in responding to conflicts over medical decisions, lawmakers have overlooked their complexity. As a result, existing legislation undermines conscience, risks harm to patients, and destabilizes ethical decisionmaking within medicine itself. The talk concludes with several proposals to improve the law\u2019s approach to morality in medicine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Sepper E. <a href=\"http:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2194875\">Not Only the Doctor\u2019s Dilemma: The Complexity of Conscience in Medicine.<\/a> 4 Faulkner L. Rev. 385, 406 (2013)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elizabeth Sepper AbstractIn recent years, conscience has become a national catch phrase, invoked regularly in health policy discussions. The word \u201cconscience,\u201d however, often stands in for refusal to deliver abortions or contraception or to remove or withhold life support. In this talk, I argue that conscience is not so one-sided, nor medical decisionmaking so straightforward. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5058\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Not Only the Doctor\u2019s Dilemma: The Complexity of Conscience in Medicine&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[554,1645,2],"tags":[32],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-5058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-institutions-hospitals-etc","category-journal-article","tag-elizabeth-sepper"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Not Only the Doctor\u2019s Dilemma: The Complexity of Conscience in Medicine - Protection of Conscience Project Library<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Existing legislation undermines conscience, risks harm to patients, and destabilizes ethical decisionmaking within medicine itself.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5058\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not Only the Doctor\u2019s Dilemma: The Complexity of Conscience in Medicine - 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