This page lists writings by Joyce Arthur and/or Christian Fiala (Our Publications).
It also lists those of colleagues who agree that belief-based care denial is incompatible with medical professionalism and ethics (Publications by Others).
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(July 2018) Enforcing Conscientious Objection to Abortion in Medical Emergency Circumstances: Criminal and Unethical
by Udo Schuklenk & Benjamin Zolf American Journal of Bioethics, 18:7, 60-61 DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2018.1478036 Lawrence Nelson discusses cases in which abortion is necessary due to a life-threatening medical emergency. He argues that under American law, health care pro- viders who conscientiously refuse to perform one in such circumstances are guilty of murder or reckless homicide, […]
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The CO debate: ‘Conscientious Objection’ is still dishonourable disobedience
Bpas reproductive review, 14 July 2014 An article by Joyce Arthur and Christian Fiala arguing ‘Why We Need to Ban “Conscientious Objection” in Reproductive Health Care’ provoked much discussion. Here, Arthur and Fiala respond to their critics. So-called ‘conscientious objection’ (CO) to contraception and abortion is a misnomer because it is actually an abuse of […]
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(July 2018) Being a Doctor and Being a Hospital
Rosamond Rhodes & Michael Danziger The American Journal of Bioethics, 18:7, 51-53 Doi: 10.1080/15265161.2018.1478021 In his excellent piece, “Provider Conscientious Refusal of Abortion, Obstetrical Emergencies, and Criminal Homicide Law,” Lawrence Nelson makes a compelling legal argument against physicians’ refusal to provide life-saving abortions (Nelson 2018). We want to make the equivalent moral argument. Nelson says […]
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(July 2018) No conscientious objection without normative justification: Against conscientious objection in medicine
by Benjamin Zolf, Bioethics. DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12521 Abstract Most proponents of conscientious objection accommodation in medicine acknowledge that not all conscientious beliefs can justify refusing service to a patient. Accordingly, they admit that constraints must be placed on the practice of conscientious objection. I argue that one such constraint must be an assessment of the […]
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(July 2018) Expert group denounces the refusal to treat under ‘conscientious objection’
For the first time ever, an expert group has arrived at a majority consensus that the practice of so-called “conscientious objection” by health-care professionals should not be allowed. The experts agreed that the practice of refusing to provide legal and essential health care due to a doctor’s personal or religious beliefs is a violation of […]
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(June 2018) Unconscionable: When Providers Deny Abortion Care
by International Women’s Health Coalition and Mujer y Salud en Uruguay (Dr. Christian Fiala is a contributor) June 2018 The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) and Mujer y Salud en Uruguay (MYSU) co-organized a global Convening on Conscientious Objection: Strategies to Counter the Effects, in August 2017. The meeting was designed to analyze and address […]
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(Jun 2018) Conscientious objection in medicine: accommodation versus professionalism and the public good
by Udo Schuklenk Br Med Bull. 2018 Jun 1;126(1):47-56. Doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldy007 Abstract In recent years questions have arisen about the moral justification for the accommodation of health care professionals who refuse, on conscience grounds as opposed to professional grounds, to provide particular professional services to eligible patients who request that kind of service. Central to […]
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(June 2018) No GP should be allowed opt out of abortions
by Newton Emerson Thu, Jun 14, 2018 The UK supreme court sat for the first time in Belfast last month, hearing an appeal into the “gay cake” case, among others. “People will of course not expect an answer any time soon,” the president of the court said upon reserving judgment. Another thing nobody expects is […]
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(June 2018) Conscientious objection: a morally insupportable misuse of authority
Arianne Shahvisi June 1, 2018 Volume: 13 issue: 2, page(s): 82-87 https://doi.org/10.1177/1477750917749945 Abstract In this paper, I argue that the conscience clause around abortion provision in England, Scotland and Wales is inadequate for two reasons. First, the patient and doctor are differently situated with respect to social power. Doctors occupy a position of significant moral […]
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(May 2018) Public cartels, private conscience
Michael Cholbi May 30, 2018 Sage Journals https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X18779146 Abstract Many contributors to debates about professional conscience assume a basic, pre-professional right of conscientious refusal and proceed to address how to ‘balance’ this right against other goods. Here I argue that opponents of a right of conscientious refusal concede too much in assuming such a right, […]
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(April 2018) Letter to the Editor: The FSRH guideline on conscientious objection disrespects patient rights and endangers their health
BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health (Volume 44, Issue 2) By Christian Fiala and Joyce H. Arthur Published online 12 April 2018 We write to offer feedback on the new Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) guideline on conscientious objection (CO) that was the subject of an editorial in the January 2018 issue of this […]
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(Jan 2018) A twist on conscientious objection: a regulatory proposal based on the practice of legal abortion in Argentina
Translated from Spanish: “Una vuelta de tuerca a la objeción de conciencia: Una propuesta regulatoria a partir de las prácticas del aborto legal en Argentina” by Agustina Ramón Michel and Sonia Ariza, on behalf of CEDES and Ipas January 2018 Note: The authors do support allowing “CO” – however, they propose strict regulation of it, […]
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(Sept 2017) Letter to the Editor: Refusal to Treat Patients Does Not Work in Any Country—Even If Misleadingly Labelled “Conscientious Objection”
Health and Human Rights Journal By Christian Fiala and Joyce H. Arthur Published online 6 September 2017 We would like to point out some serious problems and contradictions in the study “Regulation of Conscientious Objection to Abortion: An International Comparative Multiple-Case Study,” by Wendy Chavkin, Laurel Swerdlow, and Jocelyn Fifield (Health and Human Rights Journal, […]
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(Sept 2017) “Conscientious Objection” Clause in 1967 Abortion Act is Obsolete
Submission to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (APPG) September 1, 2017 From: Christian Fiala and Joyce Arthur Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission. We would like to summarize the problems with allowing so-called conscientious objection” (CO) and why it is harmful and inappropriate in health care, […]
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(July 2017) There Is No Defense for ‘Conscientious Objection’ in Reproductive Health Care
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology By Christian Fiala and Joyce H. ArthurPublished online 23 July 2017 Abstract: A widespread assumption has taken hold in the field of medicine that we must allow health care professionals the right to refuse treatment under the guise of ‘conscientious objection’ (CO), in particular for women […]
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(June 2017) “Conscientious objection” kills women
The following letter was submitted to the Irish Times on June 9, 2017, but not printed. “Conscientious objection” kills women We object to the ill-informed letter (June 5, Italy and Abortion) by Dr Angelo Bottone of the Iona Institute – a conservative Catholic organization. He claims that a pregnant woman in Italy did not die […]
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(Apr 2017) Against the accommodation of subjective healthcare provider beliefs in medicine: counteracting supporters of conscientious objector accommodation arguments
by Ricardo Smalling and Udo Schuklenk J Med Ethics. 2017 Apr;43(4):253-256. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2016-103883 We respond in this paper to various counter arguments advanced against our stance on conscientious objection accommodation. Contra Maclure and Dumont, we show that it is impossible to develop reliable tests for conscientious objectors’ claims with regard to the reasonableness of the […]
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(April 2017) Physicians, Not Conscripts — Conscientious Objection in Health Care
Ronit Y. Stahl, Ph.D., and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D. New England Journal of Medicine, 376;14, April 6, 2017 “Conscience clause” legislation has proliferated in recent years, extending the legal rights of health care professionals to cite their personal religious or moral beliefs as a reason to opt out of performing specific procedures or caring […]
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(Jan 2017) The Cost of Conscience: Kant on Conscience and Conscientious Objection
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 2017 , pp. 69-81 Jeanette Kennett https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180116000657 Abstract: The spread of demands by physicians and allied health professionals for accommodation of their private ethical, usually religiously based, objections to providing care of a particular type, or to a particular class of persons, suggests the need […]
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(Jan 2017) The Legal Ethical Backbone of Conscientious Refusal
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 2017 , pp. 59-68 Christian Munthe and Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180116000645 Abstract: This article analyzes the idea of a legal right to conscientious refusal for healthcare professionals from a basic legal ethical standpoint, using refusal to perform tasks related to legal abortion (in cases […]