Pediatrician Refuses Treatment of Baby of Lesbian Parents

[Dystopia]

Total bullshit. Belief as the killer argument opens all kinds of doors to get away with unethical and despicable behavior. If you don't want to treat some people because of your belief system, you should make that decision before going to med school and enter in a profession that is rightfully held to the most serious ethical standards.

I disagree - The fact you are able to refuse treatment in some circumstances does not validate that you can refuse it in all circumstances - I don't think we are legally entitled to say "hey religious future docs, we don't need you"; in fact we can use as many doctors as possible and if they are religious so be it - Conscious objection is a right in most of the western world and there's no reason to not allow it. My criteria as a law student is that if no one's life is threatened and there's someone else to perform the medical procedure there's no reason to flash away people's rights. I know this is hard to grasp as atheist but impartiality is a good trait to have - I too feel compelled to say "hey - Don't want this then don't become doctors" - But I know that someone's skills are not dependent on the fact that they approve or not a single procedure and we live in a pluralistic society after all

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Indeed. I have no problem with doctors choosing specialities which fit their preferences (e.g. 'I don't agree with abortions therefore I'm going to work in a different area of medicine'); I also have no problem with doctors witholding their services in specific cases but only for certain reasons (e.g. suffering threats of violence from a drunk patient). I find that this case fits none of those criteria as the doctor was already a paediatrician and the patient was doing nothing wrong. She had a medical & professional responsibility (if not obligation) to treat the child. Her actions were simply unprofessional. In the UK, a complaints tribunal could impose sanctions ranging from temporary suspension all the way up to being permanently struck off. I'm amazed that anyone would even try to defend her actions.

Again I disagree, I don't think doctors who are not keen on performing abortions should simply not pursue their speciality - What if they are indeed skilful? Should we just waste potential? There's lots of doctors in the world - IF there's someone to perform abortions we can simply create an area in hospitals for that purpose with doctors who are fine with it.