title: Conscience and collective duties: do medical professionals have a collective duty to ensure that their profession provides non-discriminatory access to all medical services?
abstract: Recent debates have led some to question the legitimacy of physicians refusing to provide legally permissible services for reasons of conscience. In this paper, I will explore the question of whether medical professionals have a collective duty to ensure that their profession provides nondiscriminatory access to all medical services. I will argue that they do not. I will also argue for an approach to dealing with intractable moral disagreements between patients and physicians that gives both parties veto power with regards to participation. Finally, I will respond to three objections to allowing physicians broad freedom to act on their consciences: such allowances would violate the conscience of the patient, would lead to unfairness, and would thwart important societal goals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Humanities, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 2S-17 Brody Medical Sciences Building, 600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, NC 27834, USA. parkerjo@ecu.edu
authors.forename: Joseph Clint
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D003242:Conscience; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics*; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000941:ethics