Conscientious Objection in Healthcare Conference: Roundtable discussion From Conscience to Robots: Practical Ethics Workshops

Panel discussion at a conference on conscientious objection in medicine and the role of conscience in healthcare practitioners’ decision making, Oxford 2015. The conference aimed at analyzing from a philosophical, ethical and legal perspective the meaning and the role of “conscience” in the healthcare profession. Conscientious objection by health professionals has become one of the most pressing problems in healthcare ethics. Health professionals are often required to perform activities that conflict with their own moral or religious beliefs (for example abortion). Their refusal can make it difficult for patients to have access to services they have a right to and, more in general, can create conflicts in the doctor-patient relationship. The widening of the medical options available today or in the near future is likely to sharpen these conflicts. Experts in bioethics, philosophy, law and medicine explored possible solutions.