
pmid: 30242077
Christopher Cowley 1 has recently put forward three arguments against the legal accommodation of a general practitioner’s conscientious objection (CO) to abortion referrals. i He claims that the adoption of these arguments does not undermine a more general right to CO to involvement in abortion. I argue that Cowley is seriously mistaken. His three arguments, especially the second and third, proceed on a path directed towards the outright rejection of a right to CO in healthcare contexts. A common problem with Cowley’s three arguments is that they overlook the peremptory significance for CO analysis of both the internal, deliberating perspective of those with a CO and the good of moral integrity. This paper supports the view that either there are strong prima facie grounds for holding that a right to CO extends in principle to the issue of referrals or the claim of a general right to CO is easily assailable.
Pregnancy, Humans, Abortion, Induced, Female, Refusal to Treat, Delivery of Health Care, Referral and Consultation, Conscience
Pregnancy, Humans, Abortion, Induced, Female, Refusal to Treat, Delivery of Health Care, Referral and Consultation, Conscience
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