{"id":772,"date":"2002-02-24T12:53:30","date_gmt":"2002-02-24T20:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=772"},"modified":"2018-03-06T14:28:03","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T22:28:03","slug":"project-letter-to-the-editor-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=772","title":{"rendered":"Project Letter to Telegraph Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Brunswick, Canada
\n24 February, 2002<\/p>\n

Sean Murphy, Administrator
\nProtection of Conscience Project<\/p>\n

Dr. Monica Brewer\u2019s\u00a0characterization of physician referral for morally controversial\u00a0purposes as a “black and white” issue is the result of inadequate reflection.(“MD\u2019s Morals Restricting Birth Control Access,” February 9, 2002) Her suggestion that doctors who object to the morning-after-pill and contraception “should pair with\u00a0doctors to whom they can refer” is a suitable solution only for\u00a0those whose objections are simply matters of professional judgement or\u00a0personal preference.<\/p>\n

For example: physicians who\u00a0know that 94% of the women who are sold the morning-after-pill do not actually require it to prevent pregnancy (the numbers are provided by\u00a0those who support<\/em> its widespread <\/a>use1<\/a><\/sup>) may be unwilling to prescribe it for that reason. However,\u00a0they might well refer a patient who wants the drug to a doctor who\u00a0will.<\/p>\n

Similarly, some physicians\u00a0believe that women\u2019s health and social interests are better served by learning to recognize their natural fertility cycles, so that they need not be dependent upon physicians or drug companies to plan or\u00a0avoid pregnancy. These physicians may not prescribe birth control\u00a0pills for \u2018ecological\u2019 reasons, but probably wouldn\u2019t object to\u00a0referral.<\/p>\n

Finally, an obstetrician who\u00a0thinks that aborting Down syndrome infants is a good idea, but finds\u00a0performing abortions a traumatic experience, would probably welcome\u00a0the opportunity to refer a patient to another colleague.<\/p>\n

The situation is quite\u00a0different when physicians are asked to refer a patient for something\u00a0to which they have grave moral objections. They believe that by\u00a0referring patients they are themselves morally culpable for facilitating the wrong that is done. Strange? Not at all.<\/p>\n

Consider Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0columnist Jonathan Alter\u2019s suggestion that, since physical torture\u00a0is “contrary to American values”, the US should turn terrorist suspects who won\u2019t talk over to “less squeamish <\/a>allies.”2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0No one would seriously argue that this would relieve the US of moral\u00a0complicity in torture.<\/p>\n

Of course, moral complicity in abortion, contraception and the morning-after-pill are not issues\u00a0for people like Dr. Morgantaler and his associate, Judy Burwell, who think these are good things, and that those who think differently are mistaken. But it is surprising that they view freedom of conscience as a problem to be solved by abolishing it, at least for those who don\u2019t\u00a0agree with them.<\/p>\n

After all, Dr. Morgantaler\u00a0justified his defiance of Canadian abortion law in a 1970 article titled, “A Physician and His Moral <\/a>Conscience.”\u00a03<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n

Notes (provided\u00a0for editorial verification)<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>1. “In 16 months of ECP services, pharmacists provided almost\u00a012,000 ECP prescriptions, which is estimated to have prevented about 700 unintended pregnancies.” Cooper, Janet, Brenda Osmond and\u00a0Melanie Rantucci, “Emergency Contraceptive Pills- Questions and\u00a0Answers”. Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal<\/em>, June 2000, Vol.133, No. 5, at p. 28. See also Valpy, Michael, “The Long Morning\u00a0After”, Globe and Mail<\/em>, 15 December, 2001)<\/p>\n

<\/a>2. Alter, Jonathon, “Time to Think About Torture”. Newsweek<\/em>, 5\u00a0November, 2001, p. 45.<\/p>\n

<\/a>3. The\u00a0article appeared anonymously in The Humanist<\/em>. Quoted in Pelrine,\u00a0Eleanor Wright, Morgantaler: The Doctor Who Couldn\u2019t Turn Away<\/em>.\u00a0 Canada: Gage Publishing, 1975, P. 79<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Brunswick, Canada 24 February, 2002 Sean Murphy, Administrator Protection of Conscience Project Dr. Monica Brewer\u2019s\u00a0characterization of physician referral for morally controversial\u00a0purposes as a “black and white” issue is the result of inadequate reflection.(“MD\u2019s Morals Restricting Birth Control Access,” February 9, 2002) Her suggestion that doctors who object to the morning-after-pill and contraception “should pair … Continue reading “Project Letter to Telegraph Journal”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,32,4,5,247,36,287,3305],"tags":[1251,205,244,293,317],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion","category-canada","category-commentary","category-ethics","category-morning-after-pill","category-essays","category-protection-of-conscience-project","category-torture-interrogation","tag-henry-morgentaler","tag-jonathon-alter","tag-monica-brewer","tag-referral","tag-sean-murphy"],"yoast_head":"\r\nProject Letter to Telegraph Journal - 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