#1197 Mark Wicclair: Conscientious Objection in Medicine

Jan 2, 2026

Mark Wicclair, a Professor of Philosophy Emeritus specializing in bioethics, delves into the contentious topic of conscientious objection in medicine. He clarifies how moral beliefs can lead to refusals of care and contrasts them with non-moral objections. The discussion touches on the balance between physician conscience and patient rights, and the ethical implications of conscientious provision in cases like abortion. Wicclair challenges critiques of conscientious objection, advocating for a nuanced understanding of moral integrity and the importance of respecting diverse beliefs in healthcare.

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INSIGHT

What Conscientious Objection Means

Conscientious objection is refusal to provide healthcare services based on ethical beliefs rather than clinical, legal, or financial reasons.
Distinguishing moral-based refusals from other refusals is essential for ethical analysis and policy responses.

INSIGHT

Conscientious Provision Explained

Conscientious provision is the mirror case: providers believe they must offer services even when law or policy prohibits them.
Post-Dobbs abortion and banned gender-affirming care show how providers may feel moral obligations to provide prohibited treatments.

INSIGHT

Moral Complicity Widens Objection

Moral complicity extends objections beyond direct provision to any involvement that facilitates the contested service.
This justification has led nurses, aides, clerks, and ambulance drivers to refuse roles linked to services like abortion.

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Dr. Mark Wicclair is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at West Virginia University and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. His primary research and teaching interests are in bioethics and applied ethics. He is the author of Conscientious Objection in Health Care: An Ethical Analysis, Ethics and the Elderly, and more recently, Conscientious Objection in Medicine.

In this episode, we focus on Conscientious Objection in Medicine. We start by discussing what conscientious objection is, and the concepts of conscientious provision, conscience, moral complicity, and moral integrity. We then get into ethical controversies surrounding conscientious objection in medicine, with a focus on whether conscientious objection is compatible with physicians' professional obligations, requirements to inform and refer patients, and an asymmetry between responses to conscientious objectors and conscientious providers. We talk about what happens when there is conflict between patients’ interests or wellbeing and physicians’ self-interest. Finally, we discuss how we should evaluate ethically the beliefs and reasons of objectors, and the implications of these debates for institutions and society more widely.

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