Canada
College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick
Policies relevant to freedom of conscience
Links and annotations
CMA Code of Ethics and Professionalism
Comment: Moral Objections (November, 2002)
Project Annotations
In a 2001
bulletin, the Council noted "that no physician is obligated to participate in a treatment or process to which they morally object" and sought feedback about appropriate guidelines for situations in which physicians have moral or ethical
objections to a service or procedure wanted by a patient. The statement above was issued the next
year.
The identification of referral as a "preferred" but not a "required"
practice is not necessarily problematic. It prompts objecting
physicians to consider, in each case, whether or not referral is a
morally acceptable option, thus providing them with the opportunity to
refine and better articulate their ethical reasoning.
Moral Factors and Medical Care
April, 2012: Amended June, 2017
Project Annotations
This guideline was adopted in 2012, "based on
an inititiative" by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. It recognizes a key distinction
between providing information and providing or
facilitating a morally contested service or
procedure.
i. Physicians are expected to provide information
necessary to satisfy the requirements of informed
medical decision making, such as prognosis, the
treatments or procedures available, benefits and
burdens of treatment, risks, etc. The point here is to balance the desire of a physician to avoid
complicity in a wrongful act with the importance of informed
decision-making by the patient, which requires that the patient have all
of the information relevant for the purpose of choosing a course of
treatment. It is necessary to respect both the freedom of conscience of
the physician and the freedom and right of the patient to make a fully
informed choice.
ii. Only if a
physician is unwilling to provide this information
is an offer of "timely access" to another physician
or resource required. The purpose of arranging
timely access in this situation is to ensure that
the patient has information needed for
decision-making. Offering timely access
may be achieved in various ways.