Bioethics seminar: Conscientious objection vs conscientious provision – Mark Wicclair
Conscientious objection involves a refusal to provide legally and institutionally permitted medical services that are contrary to a physician’s moral convictions. Conscientious provision occurs when physicians offer legally or institutionally prohibited medical services because they believe they have a moral obligation to offer them.
Whereas conscientious objectors are often accommodated, conscientious providers typically are not accommodated. In the United States, for example, whereas conscience clauses protect OB-GYNs who object to pregnancy termination, no protection is offered to conscientious providers in states in which pregnancy termination is legally prohibited or severely restricted.
This presentation critically analyses several justifications for this asymmetry.