Conscientious objection in the healing professions: a readers' guide to the ethical and social issues

What is a health care provider to do when they find that their moral integrity is at odds with professional expectations? Should a nurse with religious objections to assisted reproduction be asked to stop working in obstetrics and gynecology? Can a pharmacist with moral objections to emergency contraception refer a patient to a colleague without being complicit in a perceived moral wrong doing? Should religious organizations be required to provide or pay for objectionable health services? When is a patient's health and well-being more important than a professional's moral integrity? Here we: 1) describe a collaboration between a medical librarian and the Indiana University (IU) Conscience Project 2) outline the subject of conscientious objection in the healing professions, and 3) introduce a new readers' guide on the topic.Carnegie-Whitney Grant (2012-2013) of the American Library Association