Conscience Clause in the Practice of Medecine
Conscience Clause in the Practice of Medicine. Philip Ney MD, FRCP(C) The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have again ruled physicians must perform an abortion or refer to someone who will when asked by a women or else the physician will lose his certificate as a specialist. The State of Victoria, Australia has legislated that all physicians in that state must do the same or lose their license to practice. To some this may seem to be reinforcing one of the most noble traditions of the much honored practice of medicine i.e....
Read MoreA Woman’s Right to Choose
Philip G. Ney, MD, FRCP (C) February 1, 2006 It is argued that a woman has a right to rid herself of a preborn infant who has invaded her body and trespassed on her person. Many people are militantly promoting choice. Patients must choose. They couldn’t be prevented from choosing. Everybody makes choices. But a physician’s duty is to clearly present the options, encourage wise choices and not enact the desires of bad choices. That’s the way I must practice. Following assessment and diagnosis, I recommend a procedure; I carefully inform them of what it entails, the benefits, the...
Read MoreThe Effects of Pregnancy Loss on Women’s Health
The full length version of this article was originally published in the peer-reviewed journal “Social Science and Medicine” Vol. 38 No. 9, pp. 1193-1200, 1994. Tables are not presented here. For the full article, please see the Pioneer Publishing Order Form in our resources section. The Effects of Pregnancy Loss on Women’s Health Philip G. Ney MA, MD, FRCP(C), FRANZCP, Clinical Professor, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of B.C. Tak Fung PhD, Biostatistician, Academic Computing Service, University of Calgary Adele Rose Wickett, BSN, Research...
Read MoreResponse to Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care
OUR LIVES IN THE BALANCE, Part I CAN YOU TRUST DOCTORS? The usual discussions of euthanasia, concentrate on the object and seldom mention its effect on the subject, namely the medical profession. You need to realize that euthanasia will put the final nail in the coffin of what we have come to accept as a noble profession. It is rapidly becoming ignoble and not trust-worthy. Role-play. ( Pythagoras, played by Anastasia Pearse, a very bright UVic student.) H Good morning, Pythagoras, How are you old man? P. Good morning to you Doctor Hippocrates.(1) If you really want to know and I suspect you...
Read MoreEuthanasia Reconsidered
In the urgent, heated debate regarding euthanasia there are some aspects that are ignored. I believe if people, politicians and physicians considered these they might think differently. Everybody is ambivalent about most things almost all the time. This is true especially about living and dying. It doesn’t take much to sway their thinking from one to the other. Sometimes two words are enough to make people despair. A reversal in finances or love may precipitate a stated desire to die. At that point, somebody to help them do it, (assisted suicide) is enough to make it happen. I have...
Read MoreConscience and the Practice of Medicine Regarding Abortion
Although there is a hotly contended debate regarding the role of conscience in the decision making of physicians, particularly regarding abortion, I do not feel advocating the use of conscience, as a guide is the way to approach the problem. After many centuries of struggling we now have a science that can be generally relied upon to demonstrate what is true. This is wonderful for Christians who believe that there is one truth and only one source of truth. For them, there must be close accord between scientific and theological truth. In my experience in over half a century of...
Read More