conscience clause
palmd | January 25, 2009Sometimes I feel like I'm pounding my head against a wall. I've been wondering why the issue of so-called conscience clauses just won't die, why otherwise intelligent people can't just agree with me just don't get it.
Quick review: some health care professionals wish to be able to deny patients certain types of care, and want to be protected by law for imposing their own morals on others, in violation of basic medical ethics and human dignity (as you can see, I don't have a strong opinion about this one).
Ethical behavior is difficult. It requires empathy---but in a very particular sense…
palmd | January 21, 2009I'm one of those wacky idealists for whom January 20th was a great day. But with those high hopes, I have some fairly high expectations of our new president, one of the first of which is to repeal the Church Amendment, an HHS directive allowing health care providers to abandon proper ethics without consequence.
I've done quite a bit of blogviating about so-called conscience clauses, the rules that would allow health care providers to deny patients care not because it is outside the standard of care but because it bothers the personal beliefs of the provider. In case my previous writings…
palmd | January 16, 2009Remember those pesky conscience laws the Bush administration is trying to ram into our collective orifaces on their way out the door? No?
Let me remind you.
You see, the theocrats who are on their way out on Tuesday want to step up enforcement of the so-called Church Amendment, which protect health care providers (defined broadly) from the consequences of their own malpractice. With Church in place, your doctor (if she receives federal funds) can refuse to tell you about or prescribe birth control (as one example). Of course, she can do that anyway, but the Church Amendments protect her…
amillikan | January 12, 2009This week, our regularly scheduled "Science Saturday" feature has become "Science Monday" due to some technical difficulties during our most recent upgrade. But the video is now up and features some of our very own bloggers, Janet (AKA Dr. Freeride) from Adventures in Ethics and Science, and Peter Lipson (AKA Dr. Pal) who contributes to Denialism Blog and regularly hosts thrilling podcasts.
This week, Janet and Dr. Pal explore the ethics behind different issues in medicine and science such as conscience clauses (for example, in which pharmacists can withhold prescriptions from consumers), the…