title: Reproductive health services and the law and ethics of conscientious objection.
abstract: Reproductive health services address contraception, sterilization and abortion, and new technologies such as gamete selection and manipulation, in vitro fertilization and surrogate motherhood. Artificial fertility control and medically assisted reproduction are opposed by conservative religions and philosophies, whose adherents may object to participation. Physicians' conscientious objection to non-lifesaving interventions in pregnancy have long been accepted. Nurses' claims are less recognized, allowing nonparticipation in abortions but not refusal of patient preparation and aftercare. Objections of others in health-related activities, such as serving meals to abortion patients and typing abortion referral letters, have been disallowed. Pharmacists may claim refusal rights over fulfilling prescriptions for emergency (post-coital) contraceptives and drugs for medical (i.e. non-surgical) abortion. This paper addresses limits to conscientious objection to participation in reproductive health services, and conditions to which rights of objection may be subject. Individuals have human rights to freedom of religious conscience, but institutions, as artificial legal persons, may not claim this right.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law, Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Dickens
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced; D003267:Contraception; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D018456:Reproductive Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive