Category: Ethics

United Kingdom report recommends compulsory referral for assisted suicide

A report produced by a privately established and funded Commission on Assisted Dying has recommended that assisted suicide be legalized in the United Kingdom for any competent person over 18 years old who is terminally ill and expected to live less than 12 months.  It also recommends that physicians who refuse to assist with suicide for reasons of conscience be compelled to refer patients to colleagues who will do so [P. 311, Report]. The eleven members of the Commission included Lord Falconer, a lawyer and former solicitor general, who acted as Chair.  The validity of the Commission has been challenged from the outset, and a number of groups, including the British Medical Association, refused to take part, though about 1,300 sources gave evidence. [BBC]

Project Submission to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Re: Women’s access to lawful medical care: the problem of unregulated use of conscientious objection.

(6 October, 2010)

  • Background | On 7 October, 2010, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) considered a report recommending that freedom of conscience be denied to denominational health care facilities and, in  large part, to medical practitioners. Project Submission

The Role of Conscience in Medical Decisions

Daniel P. Sulmasy, M.D.
Center for Practical Bioethics
6 August, 2009.

Does conscience ever clash with professional duties? What do we mean by terms such as ‘conscience’ and ‘conscientious objection’? How should one approach a request from a patient that conflicts with one’s individual conscience?