1995
Jeffrey Blustein, Alan R. Fleischman
- During the course of professional practice, health
care providers may find themselves in situations where they are
called upon to perform actions that they cannot in good conscience do,
or to omit actions that conscience dictates. Conscientious objection
in such cases may be understood as motivated by a concern for one's
integrity, but integrity is a complex concept and there are different
ways of interpreting its requirements so as to yield different answers to
the question of what sorts of actions are or are not consistent with
the preservation of one's integrity. In this paper, we will focus on a
particular problem of integrity that arises for certain medical
specialists. The problem is whether or how a physician with prolife,
antiabortion views can maintain personal integrity in the practice of
maternal-fetal medicine. . .
Campbell CS, Hare J, Matthews P.
Conflicts of conscience.
Hospice and assisted suicide. Hastings Cent Rep 1995 May-Jun;25(3):36-43 Oregon
State University, USA. PMID: 7649744
Courtney S. Campbell, Jan Hare, Pam Matthews
- Proposals to legalize assisted suicide challenge hospice's identity
and integrity. In the wake of Measure 16, Oregon hospice programs must
develop practical policies to balance traditional commitments not to
hasten death and not to abandon patients with dying patients' legal right
to request lethal prescriptions.
Wendy Orr
- The topic of abortion is one which gives rise to argument whenever and
wherever it is raised. There tend to be two standpoints on abortion. The
first sees it as a moral or religious issue, with proponents arguing that
abortion is murder. The second sees it as a human rights issue, arguing
that particular groups with certain moral or religious beliefs do not
have the right to impose those beliefs on others who do not share those
views. Because of these two directly opposing views, it has become
extremely difficult to discuss abortion in a rational and constructive
way. Debates become heated and vitriolic and no one takes the issue
forward in a beneficial way. In South Africa, the time has come to move
that debate forward constructively and to look at abortion as a health
issue, which affects thousands of women and, indirectly, men. . .
Saunders C. In Britain: fewer conflicts of conscience.
Hastings Cent Rep 1995 May-Jun;25(3):44-5 Comment in: Hastings Cent Rep.
1996 May-Jun;26(3):2-3. PMID: 7544328
Dame Cicely Saunders
- The thoughtful paper by Campbell and colleagues raises questions in
a different context from the practice of hospice and palliative care
in the United Kingdom. The debate on the issues of euthanasia and,
more recently, physician-assisted suicide, has been going on for many
years in this country, as it has in the United States. So far, in
spite of the strong lobby of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, there
have been no changes in the law in the United Kingdom.
Smith J.
Abortion- a debate. (Editorial) Afr Med J 1995 Mar;85(3):137-139. PMID:
7777990
J. Smith
- The wave of abortion-on-demand legislation sweeping the world has
reached our shores. The first blows to the concept of the sanctity of
human life are being dealt at a time when health care in South Africa is
undergoing tremendous upheaval. This concept may be irreparably
damaged if the present Abortion and Sterilisation Act of 1975 is changed.
A recent consensus opinion' from the Bioethics Centre at the University
of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital suggested that the Act be changed
and made less restrictive when ongoing pregnancy poses a serious
threat to the mother's permanent mental health. Presumably this change
would be a step towards improving the health care and lives of women
during their reproductive years. . .
Tadd V.
Ethics: moral objections. Nurs Stand 1995 Mar 8-14;9(24):54 PMID: 7727235