Medical Care against the Will of the Patient after Suicide

Should Conscientious Objectors in healthcare Be protected?

Many states have a clause that allow physicians and other health care providers to consciously object (CO) to provide care based on a contradiction to their beliefs. Even though Medical providers voluntarily enter this field knowing what the profession asks of them, physicians and other healthcare providers should have the ability refuse participation in procedures or caregiving that violates their moral, ethical or religious values.

All across the country, people want to be respected and feel in charge of their own life. This is why people from all over the globe try everything to enter the states for a life that offers prosperity and more importantly, Freedom. Front and center right now individuals are presently feeling silenced from issues such as : civil rights and race-relations, gender inequality, and free speech. Healthcare are workers are experiencing the sames issues. It’s okay for patients to refuse/accept medical care such as: assisted suicide, abortions, and assistance in dying; sometimes against the wishes of family and medical advice. Yet, when a healthcare professional (HCP) chooses to decline attending to a health issue due to personal or religious reasons, they are deemed the one in the wrong.

Many agree that giving HCP the ability to decline treatment based on their CO puts the the patient’s health at further risk and is unethical. This type of refusal is seen most in reproductive health surrounding the topics of abortion and contraception. According to Arthur and fiala (2017) “There is no defence for ‘Conscientious objection’ in reproductive health care (Arthur, Fiala 2017)”. They discuss that it is impossible to establish absolute certainty about the HCP personal beliefs. Because of the difficulty in validating one's judgement, the trust and support for the HCP is extirpated.

Everyone knows that HCP are responsible for providing impartial, unbiased, and honest care to patients. However, biases do exist such as which create the potential for HCP to deceitfully use their CO erroneously. Liberman suggest that HCP who “harbor invidiously prejudicial attitudes and assumptions (Liberman, 2017)”will almost inconceivably be unable to administer acceptable care. This type of refusal blurs the line with CO and further raises the temperature on issues like civil rights, race-relations, and gender inequality.

There is palpable tension between many peoples views on CO in medicine. Issues that I have discussed above touch on many fundamentals values in people’s lives. Many of the treatments done are morally controversial and pose concerns for the patient and HCP. The freedom to choose what healthcare choices suit each individual is an advantage here in the states. The goal is that no one should feel pressured to do things that they don't want to do. It is not some ostentatious discussion with the doctor or nurse upholding their rights and the patient affirming theirs, it is each individual having a conscious reflection on their values.

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