Our Publications
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(May 2025) Origin of “Conscientious Objection” in Health Care
How Care Denials Became Enshrined into Law Because of Abortion Abstract: The United Kingdom was the first country to legalize the refusal to provide health care in the name of “conscientious objection”, allowing doctors to refuse to provide abortions based on personal or religious beliefs. A historical review into the origins and motivation behind the […]
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(Apr 2025) How to discourage belief-based denial of abortion care
by Christian Fiala & Joyce Arthur. Abstract: The exercise of so-called ‘conscientious objection’ in reproductive healthcare is unchecked and subject to widespread abuse. A growing body of evidence shows that the practice creates significant harms for patients needing abortions by delaying their care or depriving them of care, sometimes even costing their lives. We have coined […]
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(Nov 2024) Countries that Disallow Belief-based Care Denial
It has been claimed by various researchers or NGOs that certain countries do not allow belief-based care denial (aka “conscientious objection”) in reproductive healthcare or healthcare in general. This document examines those claims for each of the named countries. Only three countries were found to explicitly disallow the practice – Ethiopia, Finland, and Sweden. PDF […]
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(Oct 2024) Article: Belief-based care denial – Let’s change the terms of the debate
The term “conscientious objection” is dishonest when applied to healthcare. A more accurate term is Belief-based care denial. This phrase makes it clear that treatment is being refused due to ideological reasons and not clinical considerations. Care denials are not conscientious because they cause harms to patients and create barriers to care. The new term […]
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(Sep 2024) Presentation: Origin of “Conscientious Objection” in Health Care
How Belief-Based Care Denial Became Enshrined into Law Because of Abortion The United Kingdom was the first country to officially allow care denials based on “conscientious objection” by health care professionals – in the 1967 Abortion Act. The motivations for adding the “conscience clause” were rooted in moral opposition to abortion, Catholic religious beliefs against […]
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(Sep 2024) Study: 100% of patients who were denied care oppose “Conscientious Objection”
Belief-based care denial harms patients seeking reproductive care Healthcare providers in Canada are allowed by professional associations to deny services on the basis of their personal beliefs or conscience. But allowing healthcare providers to deny care based on their personal beliefs creates barriers to accessing necessary health services. Policymakers and clinicians should reform regulations with […]
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(Sep 2024) Poster: Belief-Based Care Denial – Let’s Change the Terms of the Debate
We should ditch the misleading phrase “conscientious objection,” which has become nothing more than an anti-choice propaganda term. Let’s adopt the term belief-based care denial instead. Why should society allow belief-based care denial when we have clear evidence of its harms and of the necessity of access to abortion? Supporting it just cedes ground to […]
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(July 2024) Belief-based denial of contraception and abortion care in Canada: A scoping review
Anvita Dixit, Dipesh Suvarna, Joyce Arthur, and Angel M. Foster Abstract: Although contraception and abortion are considered medically necessary services, providers in Canada are permitted to deny services and referrals on the basis of their personal beliefs or conscience. Belief-based denial, sometimes referred to as “conscientious objection,” remains a controversial issue leading to barriers to […]
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(Aug 2023) What International Human Rights Groups and Agreements, and Global Health Orgs, Say About “Conscientious Objection” in Healthcare
This document is a compilation of everything relevant to “conscientious objection” in reproductive healthcare, as contained in international human rights agreements, and guidelines/reports by global health and human rights groups and governing bodies that have weighed in on the topic. The excerpts are contextualized by the view that “CO” in healthcare is inappropriate, unworkable, and […]
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(2021) ESCRH’s Position Paper on SRHR should not tolerate the denial of care due to personal beliefs
The Editor of the European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care initially accepted this article for publication, then recanted. The journal refused to publish the paper because peer reviewers supported the denial of reproductive healthcare by healthcare professionals who oppose such care based on their personal beliefs. Download PDF(4 pages)