Defending conscientious objection
by Michael Cook, Bio Edge:
One of the hottest topics in bioethics today is conscientious objection (CO). Although the clamour is loudest in the corner where the debate is over whether CO has a right to exist, most writers and legislators believe that there is some room for CO in healthcare. The question is how much room.
That’s why a special issue of The New Bioethics is a welcome addition to the rapidly growing literature on CO. The articles are part of a four-year plan of seminars in Britain organised by the Accommodating Conscience Research Network (ACoRN). Here are a few nuggets from the articles in the special issue.
David Oderberg, of the University of Reading, asks whether CO in medicine is a special case which deserves unique protection or whether CO exists in other professions as well. He answers that in principle CO in medicine is not special, but in practice, it is. Most conflicts and disputes over CO arise in this area because we all need health care.
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