The Celestial Fire of Conscience — Refusing to Deliver Medical Care

Interview with Professor R. Alta Charo on “conscience clauses” and the refusal to deliver medical care. (07:03)Download Apparently heeding George Washington's call to “labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience,” physicians, nurses, and pharmacists are increasingly claiming a right to the autonomy not only to refuse to provide services they find objectionable, but even to refuse to refer patients to another provider and, more recently, to inform them of the existence of legal options for care.Largely as artifacts of the abortion wars, at least 45 states have “conscience clauses” on their books — laws that balance a physician's conscientious objection to performing an abortion with the profession's obligation . . .