Ten Years of Training: Family Medicine Residents as Conscientious Objectors to Circumcision

Storms, Michelle R.

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6407-1_9

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…None of the informants had had to 'fight' for their stance, and their departments had accommodated their refusals to partake. Perhaps this contributes to explaining why most of the informants would not readily call themselves 'conscientious objectors' or invoke concepts such as conscience or moral integrity; having experienced societal and collegial support, they have felt it sufficient to refer to the norms of the professions, and have not had any need of invoking frameworks of CO and minority rights, as the colleagues from Marquette, USA, apparently had [9].…”

Section: Ritual Circumcision As a Problem Of Professional Ethicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are not many published reports about physicians refusing to partake in ritual circumcision. In an article based on experiences from the Marquette Family Residency Program, USA, Michelle Storms described how ritual circumcision had led to controversy both in the department and among colleagues [9]. Many doctors had felt compelled to identify as 'conscientious objectors' to justify their choice to refrain from performing ritual circumcision.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Refusals to perform ritual circumcision: a qualitative study of doctors’ professional and ethical reasoning

et al. 2020

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Background: Ritual circumcision of infant boys is controversial in Norway, as in many other countries. The procedure became a part of Norwegian public health services in 2015. A new law opened for conscientious objection to the procedure. We have studied physicians' refusals to perform ritual circumcision as an issue of professional ethics. Method: Qualitative interview study with 10 urologists who refused to perform ritual circumcision from six Norwegian public hospitals. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, then analysed with systematic text condensation, a qualitative analysis framework. Results: The physicians are unanimous in grounding their opposition to the procedure in professional standards and norms, based on fundamental tenets of professional ethics. While there is homogeneity in the group when it comes to this reasoning, there are significant variations as to how deeply the matter touches the urologists on a personal level. About half of them connect their stance to their personal integrity, and state that performing the procedure would go against their conscience and lead to pangs of conscience. Conclusions: It is argued that professional moral norms sometimes might become more or less 'integrated' in the professional's core moral values and moral identity. If this is the case, then the distinction between consciencebased and professional refusals to certain healthcare services cannot be drawn as sharply as it has been.

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Section: Ritual Circumcision As a Problem Of Professional Ethicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%