[Pflienews] PharmFacts E-News Update: Faith and Practice meet

Sat Apr 26 10:31:47 MDT 2008

*PharmFacts E-News Update --

*http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=472559

Pro-life pharmacist and PFLI coordinator Cristina Alarcon of Vancouver, BC

*National Post*

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Presented by

    Faith put into practice

'Moral conscience' comes first for Catholic doctors

*Charles Lewis,  National Post  *Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

For Rene Leiva, a family physician in Ottawa, there is no question about 
where his Roman Catholic beliefs fit into his medical practice. In his 
office there is a sign informing potential patients that there are 
certain things his practice will not do: He will not prescribe birth 
control pills, though he will talk about natural family planning; and no 
patient should expect him to give a referral for an abortion because 
that, he said, would be akin to "co-operating with evil."

"Moral conscience can never play a second role," said Dr. Leiva, who is 
a member of Canadian Physicians for Life. "Patients are informed of all 
options and why we support a given one based on medical and moral 
reasons. Alternatives solutions are always given based on what our 
medical-moral judgment is felt to be the best for our patients."

Not every Catholic doctor may feel on such firm moral ground. Even 
though the Canadian Medical Association allows all its members to opt 
out of those things that go against their conscience, including opting 
out of making referrals, many feel that they will be stigmatized if they 
are too vocal about their beliefs.

"There are many people who would say, 'Well, as a religious person in 
health care, you're in a public sphere funded by tax money and your 
capacity to exercise conscientious objection is restricted,' " said Iain 
Benson, of the Ottawa-based Centre for Cultural Renewal, a group that 
studies the links between public policy, culture and religion.

"These are very powerful misconceptions," said Mr. Benson, who is also a 
lawyer. "The religious person doesn't think he has a place in the public 
dimensions of society."

Mr. Benson will be talking about these very things at a conference this 
weekend called The Vocation of the Catholic Physician: Integrating the 
Practical, the Bioethical and the Spiritual.

The agenda is a grab bag of issues of interest to anyone with a strong 
religious point of view: Notable experts will speak about abortion, 
birth control, stem-cell research and fertility care. But beyond the 
specific issues, the conference is intended to be a forum to remind 
Catholic doctors that their beliefs do not have to be left at home when 
they go to their offices and, organizers say, there is much ground in 
the public square to be won back.

Even Pope Benedict [XVI]said last week in Washington that faith should 
be part of every aspect of life, adding that "the subtle influence of 
secularism can ... colour the way people allow their faith to influence 
their behaviour."

However, notions such as a woman's right to choose an abortion or access 
to contraceptives should not be considered an ideology or a competing 
idea, said Kelli Dilworth of the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health.
"All the things we're talking about are within that public system, 
they're not immoral or illegal. I don't think it's an ideology that 
women have a right to access legal, safe medication and procedures that 
are publicly funded to other Canadian women," she said. "That's where 
the ideological arguments breaks down."

Moira McQueen, head of the Toronto-based Canadian Catholic Bioethics 
Institute, which has organized this weekend's event, said she hopes the 
conference may even be a rallying point for creating a national Catholic 
doctors' association that would provide moral and educational support -- 
as well as give Catholic doctors a stronger voice on national issues 
that have an ethical dimension.

Ms. McQueen, a lawyer who also holds a doctorate in moral theology, 
believes, for example, that if the Liberals win the next federal 
election, a bill to make euthanasia legal in certain cases will be 
introduced -- something a national Catholic physicians group would be 
able to address.

"The Catholic Church speaks out, but Catholic physicians may not want to 
[over concern about alienating their patients]," said Ms. McQueen. "It 
surprises there isn't a stronger, more unified message in Canada."
Thomas Collins, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toronto, who 
will speak at the conference, said it is very odd that religious people 
are the majority in Canada and yet they often act like a minority.

"The idea that in our society that only the secular vision that is 
drained of religion has a legitimate place at the table is a very odd view.

"The key characteristic that I think is very important for Catholic 
doctors is to have a moral sense," said Archbishop Collins.

"Our society very often goes in directions, whether it's abortion or 
desire for euthanasia, where the conscience of a doctor, or of a nurse, 
can be a challenge."

Dr. Leiva believes that it comes down to whether what you do is a 
"remote" or a "close" co-operation with evil. So according to his 
reasoning, performing an abortion or making a referral for one is a 
"close" co-operation and that is something he will never do.

But it gets trickier with the rubella vaccine, which he considers 
tainted. When it was developed 40 years ago, researchers used fetal 
cells from an aborted fetus to produce cell lines used to harvest 
viruses, which in turn became the rubella vaccine. Even though the use 
of aborted fetuses is so long ago, some parents, Dr. Leiva said, do not 
want their children to get it. But he tries to tell patients that this 
is an example of a "remote" co-operation with evil.

"If parents want to use the vaccine, I don't discourage them. The 
Vatican said given the circumstances it's unfair to put the burden on 
the parents, and especially the children, so you can use those vaccines. 
Nevertheless, there is a moral imperative to develop ethical 
alternatives." (Such an alternative was recently developed for the polio 
vaccine.)

This issue, of course, extends to others in the medical field. Cristina 
Alarcon is a pharmacist in West Vancouver whose religious and scientific 
background led her to oppose such things as the single-dose version of 
Plan B, the morning-after drug.

"I will absolutely not dispense that," she said, although she is 
fortunate in that her drugstore does not carry that specific 
morning-after medication. Her two colleagues will refer someone to 
another drugstore down the street. However, Ms. Alarcon will not -- 
because she likens the drug to a kind of very early stage abortion.
In effect, her conscience is leading her to violate the College of 
Pharmacists of British Columbia ethics code, something she has been 
officially trying to change for the past seven years. It allows for 
pharmacists not to dispense drugs, but they are required to make a 
referral to someone who will. "I practise according to conscience," she 
said. "You're the person and the professional, not two split personalities."

Mr. Benson, who will speak today on "conscientious objection," said the 
common view is that religion and secular are two separate notions, and 
religion is a private affair. He said society is highly influenced by a 
belief -- which he calls "one-size-fits-all liberalism" -- that one day 
we are all going to agree on everything or the law will help us get to 
that agreement.

But he said the way Canadian society should be moving -- a direction he 
believes is supported by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which 
supports freedom of conscience and religion -- is one of the 
accommodation of ideas.

"Our starting points are so different [on any number of issues] we are 
never going to agree," he said.
"And to imagine we are all going to come to this mythical state of 
agreement is a misconception."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

PFLI PharmAid Center
pfli at pfli.org <mailto:pfli at pfli.org>
PO Box 1281
Powell, OH 43065-1281 USA
800-227-8359
www.pfli.org

PFLI supports pharmacist rights of conscience NOT to be forced to 
dispense or counsel for chemicals which violate their sincerely held 
religious, moral or ethical beliefs.  For more info see:
http://www.pfli.org/main.php?pfli=conscienceclausefaq

*** PFLI is the only pharmacy association which is exclusively pro-life.
It represents thousands of pharmacists and many lay supporters
in the USA, Canada and all around the globe. For membership info, key
PFLI texts, PFLI archives, late-breaking news, abridged newsletter excerpts
or general information, visit the PFLI web site at http://www.pfli.org.
Or e-mail us at mailto:pfli at pfli.org.

*** We do NOT send out SPAM. To subscribe to PharmFacts E-News, just 
send an e-mail with the word
"subscribe" in the subject area;  to cease your subscription (although 
we can't
imagine anyone would!) just send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the 
subject area, or
manage your account at: http://pfli.org/mailman/listinfo/pflienews_pfli.org

*** You may contact PFLI at any/all of the following: Pharmacists For 
Life International,
PO Box 1281, Powell, OH 43065-1281 USA,  1-800-227-8359 [US & Canada only],
 +1-740-881-5520 [voice] or +1-707-667-2447 [fax]; e-mail us at 
mailto:pfli at pfli.org.

*** You can order our publications as well as begin/renew your 
membership right on our
website at http://www.pfli.org. Click on the "PFLI Store" link on the 
toolbar and
follow the prompts! There you can also donate to PFLI as well as 
purchase a wide range of publications. 

* *
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://pfli.org/pipermail/pflienews_pfli.org/attachments/20080426/eb9c1952/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14952 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://pfli.org/pipermail/pflienews_pfli.org/attachments/20080426/eb9c1952/attachment-0001.jpe 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: alarcon2.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 41741 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://pfli.org/pipermail/pflienews_pfli.org/attachments/20080426/eb9c1952/attachment-0001.jpg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 2923 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://pfli.org/pipermail/pflienews_pfli.org/attachments/20080426/eb9c1952/attachment-0001.gif 