title: The uneasy (and changing) relationship of health care and religion in our legal system.
abstract: This article provides a brief introduction to the interplay between law and religion in the health care context. First, I address the extent to which the commitments of a faith tradition may be written into laws that bind all citizens, including those who do not share those commitments. Second, I discuss the law's accommodation of the faith commitments of individual health care providers-hardly a static inquiry, as the degree of accommodation is increasingly contested. Third, I expand the discussion to include institutional health care providers, arguing that the legal system's resistance to accommodating the morally distinct identities of institutional providers reflects a short-sighted view of the liberty of conscience. Finally, I offer some tentative thoughts about why these dynamics become even more complicated in the context of Islamic health care providers.
authors.affiliation: University of St. Thomas School of Law, 1000 LaSalle Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55403, USA. rkvischer@stthomas.edu
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Vischer
mesh_terms: D002961:Civil Rights; D003242:Conscience; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D005610:Freedom; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016519:Hospitals, Religious / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D007883:Legislation, Medical / Q000639:trends; D009014:Morals; D011057:Politics; D011639:Public Opinion; D011640:Public Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D014481:United States
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