“It is not always easy to follow one’s conscience in obedience to God’s law. It may entail sacrifice and disadvantages, and one can in no way discount this cost; sometimes heroism is called for if one is to be faithful to these demands. Nevertheless, it must be clearly stated that the road of genuine progress for the human person passes through this constant fidelity to a conscience upholding rectitude and truth.” As well as being a mark of professional loyalty, conscientious objection on the part of the health care worker, for the right reasons, is highly meaningful as a social condemnation of a legal injustice against innocent and defenseless life.
Source: CHARTER FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS published by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers
This last weekend, the Society of Catholic Social Scientists met for their 20th Annual Conference in Long Island, New York. Mr. McKeegan participated in a panel discussion that included four health professionals. They discussed the impact of the Health Care mandate on their respective professions (nursing, medicine, pharmacy and social worker) and initiatives being taken both by their respective professions and by individual states to put limits on conscientious objection by insisting on a referral clause. Copies of two of their presentations can be found here: The Pharmacist View of Religious Freedom and
The Physician View of Religious Liberty.
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