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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(Aug 2018) Lessons learnt from the past: “Conscientious objection” to abortion in Chile will lead to widespread disobedience of the new law
Authors Montero and Villarroel discuss problems that might arise from “conscientious objection” (CO) to the new law in Chile that legalized abortion in cases of life endangerment of the woman, fatal fetal abnormality, and rape. (“A critical review of conscientious objection and decriminalisation of abortion in Chile”, Jan 6). The law provides the “right” to […]
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(Aug 2018) On the Revolutionary Road to Reproductive Justice
Dr. Willie Parker is an abortion provider because of, not despite, his Christian faith. At a moment when refusal of care due to conscience claims obstructs reproductive justice, emphasizing the role conscience plays in compassionate and ethical medical care, as Dr. Parker does, means a revolutionary shift in thinking about power—prioritizing the needs of the […]
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(July 2018) Religious Refusals and Reproductive Rights: Claims of Conscience as Discrimination and Shaming
Relevant excerpt: The stories from Indiana and Arizona illustrate the different way in which we currently view refusals to serve LGBT people for reasons of religious beliefs versus refusals to serve women seeking reproductive health services because of religious beliefs. This chapter takes issue with this difference. It argues we need to see, question, and […]
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(July 2018) Seeking to Square the Circle: A Sustainable Conscientious Objection in Reproductive Healthcare
From Book Introduction: [In this chapter, the authors] focus on the practical and conceptual difficulties in reconciling the reproductive rights of women with the conscience claims of individual health care providers. From a practical standpoint, drawing on national, international, and European measures, cases, and policy papers, they demonstrate that even the most balanced regulatory framework […]
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(July 2018) IWHC Brief to Constitutional Court of Colombia: Abortion Restrictions are Ineffective and Harmful
The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) submitted an amicus brief to the Constitutional Court of Colombia, urging the court to defend women’s rights and health by upholding the right to safe and legal abortion. In October 2018, the court voted 6 to 3 to maintain no time frame restriction on legal abortion, denying a request […]
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(July 2018) Provider Conscientious Refusal, Medical Malpractice, and the Right to Civil Recourse
Nelson (2018) argues that where death results from conscientious refusal to provide abortion services in an obstetrical emergency, clinicians and institutions should be held criminally liable for homicide. I wholeheartedly endorse Nelson’s position and add the following additional observations: (1) Clinicians and institutions that decline to provide reproductive health care in accordance with generally accepted […]
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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, […]