{"id":7782,"date":"2017-03-02T12:47:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T20:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7782"},"modified":"2023-01-28T15:53:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T23:53:26","slug":"conscientious-objection-in-healthcare-and-the-duty-to-refer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7782","title":{"rendered":"Conscientious objection in healthcare and the duty to refer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Christopher Cowley<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"172\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/jmedicalethics.jpg\" alt=\"Journal of Medical Ethics\" class=\"wp-image-11057\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Journal of Medical Ethics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><br>Although some healthcare professionals have the legal right to conscientiously object to authorise or perform certain lawful medical services, they have an associated duty to provide the patient with enough information to seek out another professional willing to authorise or provide the service (the \u2018duty to refer\u2019). Does the duty to refer morally undermine the professional&#8217;s conscientious objection (CO)? I narrow my discussion to the National Health Service in Britain, and the case of a general practitioner (GP) being asked by a pregnant woman to authorise an abortion. I will be careful not to enter the debate about whether abortion should be legalised, or the debate about whether CO should be permitted\u2014I will take both as given. I defend the objecting GP&#8217;s duty to refer against those I call the \u2018conscience absolutists\u2019, who would claim that if a state is serious enough in permitting the GP&#8217;s objection in the first place (as is the UK), then it has to recognise the right to withhold any information about abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Cowley C.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1136\/medethics-2016-103928\">Conscientious objection in healthcare and the duty to refer<\/a>.&nbsp; J Med Ethics 2017;43:207-212.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christopher Cowley AbstractAlthough some healthcare professionals have the legal right to conscientiously object to authorise or perform certain lawful medical services, they have an associated duty to provide the patient with enough information to seek out another professional willing to authorise or provide the service (the \u2018duty to refer\u2019). Does the duty to refer morally &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7782\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Conscientious objection in healthcare and the duty to refer&#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":[554,2,1646],"tags":[54],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-7782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-journal-article","category-referral","tag-christopher-cowley"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Conscientious objection in healthcare and the duty to refer - Protection of Conscience Project Library<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Objecting practitioners are obliged 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