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Volume 352:2471-2473 June 16, 2005 Number 24 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Apparently heeding George Washington's call to "labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience," physicians, nurses, and pharmacists are increasingly claiming a right to the autonomy not only to refuse to provide services they find objectionable, but even to refuse to refer patients to another provider and, more recently, to inform them of the existence of legal options for care.

Largely as artifacts of the abortion wars, at least 45 states have "conscience clauses" on their books — laws that balance a physician's conscientious objection to performing an abortion with the profession's obligation . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Professor Charo teaches law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin Law and Medical Schools, Madison.

An interview with Professor Charo can be heard at www.nejm.org.

Related Letters:

The Celestial Fire of Conscience
Lee M., Castro O., Lombardo F. A., Gordeuk V. R., Dobbs D., Nadoolman W., Charo R. A.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2005; 353:1301-1302, Sep 22, 2005. Correspondence

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• Sloan, R. P. (2007). Attendance at Religious Services, Health, and the Lessons of Trinity. Psychosom. Med. 69: 493-494 [Full Text]  
• Curlin, F. A., Lawrence, R. E., Chin, M. H., Lantos, J. D. (2007). Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices. NEJM 356: 593-600 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Savulescu, J. (2006). Conscientious objection in medicine. BMJ 332: 294-297 [Full Text]  
• Lee, M., Castro, O., Lombardo, F. A., Gordeuk, V. R., Dobbs, D., Nadoolman, W., Charo, R. A. (2005). The Celestial Fire of Conscience. NEJM 353: 1301-1302 [Full Text]  
• Mears, B. J. (2005). Refusal to Provide Essential Care: Duties of Providers. AAP Grand Rounds 14: 30-30 [Full Text]