Apparently heeding George Washington's call to "labor to keepalive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire calledconscience," physicians, nurses, and pharmacists are increasinglyclaiming a right to the autonomy not only to refuse to provideservices they find objectionable, but even to refuse to referpatients to another provider and, more recently, to inform themof the existence of legal options for care.
Largely as artifacts of the abortion wars, at least 45 stateshave "conscience clauses" on their books — laws that balancea physician's conscientious objection to performing an abortionwith 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.
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Interview
