Related to the conversations we’ve been having lately on conscience, I wanted to point you to a relatively new book on the topic by Mark Wicclair: Conscientious Objection in Health Care: An Ethical Analysis, Cambridge University Press, 2011.
From Amazon: “Historically associated with military service, conscientious objection has become a significant phenomenon in health care. Mark Wicclair offers a comprehensive ethical analysis of conscientious objection in three representative health care professions: medicine, nursing and pharmacy. He critically examines two extreme positions: the ‘incompatibility thesis’, that it is contrary to the professional obligations of practitioners to refuse provision of any service within the scope of their professional competence; and ‘conscience absolutism’, that they should be exempted from performing any action contrary to their conscience. He argues for a compromise approach that accommodates conscience-based refusals within the limits of specified ethical constraints. He also explores conscientious objection by students in each of the three professions, discusses conscience protection legislation and conscience-based refusals by pharmacies and hospitals, and analyzes several cases. His book is a valuable resource for scholars, professionals, trainees, students, and anyone interested in this increasingly important aspect of health care.”
Larry McCullough writes a glowing review over at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
Mark’s book is broader than mine (Conflicts of Conscience in Health Care: An Institutional Compromise) in that he addresses conscientious objection as it arises in a variety of health care professions, as well as institutional objections, whereas I focus exclusively on objection by individual physicians. However, Mark focuses on the ethics and ethical limits of conscientious objection, and does not consider means to enforce those limits or ensure patient access. Such practical details are a major focus of my book. So check them both out!
[H/T Glenn Cohen, via John Goldberg]
