UFL member Lynn Wardle has posted two of his articles on the need to protect the rights of conscience on SSRN. I have described SSRN in a previous post here. Professor Wardle’s article, Protection of Healthcare Providers’ Rights of Conscience in American Law: Present, Past, and Future, is part of a series of articles presented at a UFL-sponsored symposium on this topic. He examines the 2008 Bush Conscience Protection regulations and discusses the debate other their rescission. In the second article, Rights of Conscience vs. Peer-Driven Medical Ethics: ACOG and Abortion, Professor Wardle reviews a 2007 opinion of the Ethics Committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) prescribing the limits of conscientious refusal in reproductive medicine. He concludes that “the opinion was heavily slanted in favor of the patient’s right to receive reproductive procedures such as abortion or contraceptives” and that “ACOG is unwilling to acknowledge the full power of healthcare providers’ right of conscience.”
While both of these articles are in print, and one is available on various fee-paid databases, it is very helpful the the worldwide community of scholars to have the articles on SSRN for free. I recommend that all of our members consider submitting future, present, and past scholarly articles to SSRN to enhance the distribution of their work, and to help build a worldwide culture of life.