Saturday, February 04, 2006

Civil disobedience or something else?

There is no trend here that I have two posts in a row dealing with pregnancy but the Lawrence Journal World today reported the latest on a growing trend- pharmacists and other medical workers refusing to treat or give substandard care to patients who are asking for treatments or medication that the patient requested. Commonly as in this case a pharmacist refuses to dispense emergency contraception because he or she is morally opposed to it.

Now I am all for people living their lives according to moral principles but it seems that there is another principle that this has to balanced against, namely the rights of patients to medical treatment that is in their own interest. Medical professionals do have an obligation here to be non judgmental. After all the patient is living his or her life based on some set of values, so unless the patient is doing something medically risky to the patient, the medical professional should fulfill the request.

The pharmacist's actions are not, as some might claim, a form of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience involves believing so strongly that a government action is wrong that you put yourself at risk to disobey a government action and you willingly take the consequences. By the way, back in the 1960's some antiwar protesters who allegedly practiced civil disobedience didn't want to face the consequences either and I thought that was wrong as well.

1 comment:

Jessica Harwood said...

I agree that it's wrong for health professionals, especially those in hospitals funded by federal dollars, to refuse a treatment that is perfectly legal in the USA. If they have moral reservations about their job, they should get a different job. From the modern Hippocratic Oath:

"Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God."

In my view, this means doctors have the responsibility to sometimes take a "life" and doctors should not try to play God and judge people's choices.