Category: Countries

Conscientious objectors have right not to stock morning after pill, judge says

Women’s rights activists say women still find it difficult to access the morning-after pill

Malta Today

Laura Calleja

Access to the morning-after pill remains problematic for women – especially on Sundays when not all pharmacies are open, according to women’s rights activists.

The problem stems from the refusal of some pharmacists to stock and sell the emergency contraceptive because they have moral objections to the pill.

A recent undertaking by newspaper Illum showed that 70% of pharmacies contacted by the newspaper sold the morning-after pill. However, it also confirmed that three in 10 pharmacies were refusing to stock the pill. . . . [Full Text]

I’d quit my job if I had to assist in an abortion, says Northern Ireland midwife

Belfast Telegraph

Ralph Hewitt

A midwife has said she would walk away from the profession if she was forced to either perform or assist an abortion after the liberalisation of the law in Northern Ireland next month.

She was speaking after a letter signed by 815 doctors, nurses and midwives was sent to Secretary of State Julian Smith and Richard Pengelly, the permanent secretary for the Department of Health, expressing opposition to any change of legislation here.

Carrickfergus GP Dr Andrew Cupples also warned of a mass exodus of healthcare professionals if they had to assist in a pregnancy termination. . . [Full text]

Abortion: Hundreds of healthcare workers oppose new law

BBC News

Marie-Louise Connolly, Catherine Smyth

Hundreds of health professionals have written to the NI secretary expressing opposition to the liberalisation of NI’s abortion laws.

The doctors, nurses and midwives say their consciences will not allow them to stay silent on the issue.

They want reassurance as “conscientious objectors” that they will not have to perform or assist abortions.

Unless the NI assembly is restored by 21 October, restrictions on abortion in NI will be drastically reduced. . . . [Full text]

Why people choose medically assisted death revealed through conversations with nurses

The Conversation
Reproduced under Creative Commons Licence

Barbara Pesut*, and Sally Thorne*

Since Canada legalized Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2016, as of Oct. 31, 2018, more than 6,700 Canadians have chosen medications to end their life.

Canadians who meet eligibility requirements can opt to self-administer or have a clinician administer these medications; the vast majority of people choosing MAiD have had their medications delivered by physicians or nurse practitioners. Canada is the first country to permit nurse practitioners to assess for medically assisted dying eligibility and to provide it. . . .

. . . Our most recent research involved interviews with 59 nurse practitioners or registered nurses across Canada who accompanied patients and families along the journey of medically assisted dying or who had chosen to conscientiously object. Nurses worked across the spectrum of care in acute, residential and home-care settings. . . .[Full Text]

‘It should be treated just like every other civil right’: Top Trump health official looks to enshrine religious liberty

Washington Examiner

Kimberly Leonard

The Trump administration official who enforces civil rights protections in healthcare sees his work on religious liberty as his biggest legacy for the Department of Health and Human Services.

“There is a real problem out there of lack of respect for conscience and religious freedom that needs to be addressed and we are taking the concrete steps to finally address it,” said Roger Severino, 44, director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. “And I think this is an awakening of sorts that has opened up people’s eyes, both in the healthcare industry and beyond, that this is a right that had been under-enforced, that people were being discriminated against and felt they had nowhere to turn, and now they have somewhere to turn. And it would be a shame if that door ever closed on them again.” . . . [Full text]