Doctor’s should be able to object

A survey of medical students shows that they believe a doctor should be able to object to and not perform any procedure that conflicts with their personal, moral, or religious beliefs.

Published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, nearly half of the respondents believed in conscientiously objecting and reusing to treat a patient who wanted an abortion, contraceptive services or who was drunk or high on drugs or even who wanted an intimate examination and was of the opposite sex.

Not surprisingly, Muslim students felt the strongest and were the most consistent.

The data was pulled from an anonymous survey of medical students in Cardiff, London and Leeds. They were asked about religious beliefs, gender, ethnic origin and type of degree they were pursuing.

One third claimed to have no religious faith, about 17% said they were Protestant while Catholics and atheists measured just under 12% each. Muslim and Protestant sudents were most likely to give religious reasons for their objection.

“In light of the increasing demand for abortions, these results may have implications for women’s access to abortion services in the future. The Department of Health has issued statistics showing that, although there are an increasing number of abortions taking place in the UK, fewer doctors are willing t perform them,” writes the author.

“Once qualified as doctors, if all these respondents acted on their conscience and refused to perform certain procedures, it may become impossible for conscientious objectors to be accommodated in medicine.”

Source: British Journal of Medicine, ScienceDaily