Welcome

This website brings together views, news, and studies on the phenomenon of so-called “conscientious objection” (“CO”) in healthcare, in particular for abortion and other reproductive healthcare. We have renamed it to belief-based care denial to be more accurate, as the practice is not conscientious and the term is stigmatizing against abortion.

Spanish information on this topic:


News

Following are some news articles on the topic of “conscientious objection”.


Victims of Belief-based Denial

Here is a collection of stories where women were refused a legal abortion and suffered serious injury or injustice as a result, including death in some cases. Doctors and hospitals are rarely punished or convicted for these wrongdoings.

Media coverage about serious consequences of the refusal to treat under CO usually only happens when a woman dies, or a woman or her family sues. Here are their stories we could find, but these must be the tip of the iceberg. We know nothing about the vast majority of refusals to treat under CO, or what happens to the victims.

  • Mirela (2022) Croatia

    Four hospitals deny a woman a legal abortion because of serious fetal anomalies, forcing her to go to Slovenia. At a regular gynecological check-up in April, it was found that Mirela Čavajda’s fetus had a malignant brain tumor. She waited…

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  • Agnieszka T (2022) † Poland

    Pregnant woman miscarrying twins dies of (likely) sepsis because doctors waited for fetuses to die. Agnieszka, a mother of three, was pregnant with twins during her first trimester when she was admitted to the Blessed Virgin Mary Hospital in Częstochowa…

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  • 30 women (anonymous) – USA

    Women’s health and lives are frequently put at risk in American Catholic hospitals, but only a few cases are publicized. We count 77 so far – 30 mostly anonymous cases are included here, and the rest described individually by name…

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Our Publications

This page lists writings on the topic of “conscientious objection” by Joyce Arthur and/or Christian Fiala and other colleagues who support the “incompatibility thesis”.