Bernard Dickens
Speeches:
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Conscientious commitment
Freedom of conscience is a human right
recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948. Accordingly, the U.N. International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides
that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion” (Art.18(1)).
Conscience is thereby expressed as separate
from religion. Individuals may, of course, base
their conscience on their religious beliefs, but
the Covenant establishes that religion has
no monopoly on conscience. A common
invocation of conscience regarding abortion is in
conscientious objection to participation, which isoften based on religious convictions.
Conscientious commitment is the reverse of
conscientious objection. It arises when healthcare
providers feel conscientiously committed to
offer patients advice and services to which
administrators of their healthcare facilities such
as hospitals are opposed in principle, for religious
or comparable reasons. Institutions such as
hospital corporations cannot claim human rights
such as conscientious objection. Health facility
administrators must accommodate service
providers’ rights of conscience, such as to
recommend and offer services the providers
conscientiously consider to be in their patients’ best
interests, and, with patients’ consent, to provide,
or refer patients for, such services, including lawful
abortion, without discrimination, in the same way
that facility administrators must accommodate
providers’ rights of conscientious objection.