AMA survey reveals that doctors at religious hospitals in the U.S. face ethical conflicts over patient care.
The Journal of General Internal Medicine performed a nationwide study of 446 family physicians and found out how frequently doctors disagree with institutional policies.
Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical Association does not believe the findings should raise concerns about access to care. But the rising problem, he says, is that physicians who oppose practices that conflict with their religious beliefs are facing more pressure to violate those values.
"This article points out the vast majority of physicians in this country realize that if a hospital doesn't provide a service, they simply take a patient to another hospital," he reports. "Only four percent of doctors said they would go ahead and violate the hospital's standing rules and provide something that has been prohibited."
Only one-in-five doctors at religious hospitals have experienced a conflict over faith-based patient care policies, such as not providing abortions. But Stevens notes there has been an effort to push religious hospitals to provide the morning-after pill.
"Unfortunately there is a blind ideology out there, almost a religion for abortion rights activists, that they want to make sure everybody participates in the deadly deeds they are so desiring to do," Dr. Stevens laments.
He notes there are really no emergency situations where a person would have to be referred to another facility based on religious practices because emergency contraception and most abortions are not immediate needs for a patient.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: May 11, 2010
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