In an article published in Dignitas, a journal of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, Andrew Kubick, Research Fellow with RFI’s National Center for Religious Freedom Education, offers a glimpse into the subject of positive conscience claims, which “demand the freedom to commit an act that one’s conscience judges to be good.” He reflects on this subject in the healthcare context, especially in cases where a medical practitioner’s claim runs up against a hospital’s institutional identity.
“Many people,” observes Kubick, “are familiar with cases when a healthcare professional advances a negative claim of conscience, that is to say, when the professional refuses to perform or participate in a service that he judges is evil.” But history provides many examples “that both negative and positive claims of conscience can result in coercion, discrimination, and even disciplinary action by those in authority.”
Kubick presented a version of this article at the 2022 Annual Conference of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity convened last summer.
Read the full article: Who Decides? Resolving Conflicts between Individual Conscience and Institutional Identity.
THE RFI BLOG
![Featured image for “RFI President Speaks on Religious Freedom and Depolarization at Notre Dame Summit”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DT-Speaking-at-ND-Religious-Liberty-Summit.jpg)
RFI President Speaks on Religious Freedom and Depolarization at Notre Dame Summit
![Featured image for “Religious Freedom Is Being Ignored This Election”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/UK-FCO.jpg)
Religious Freedom Is Being Ignored This Election
![Featured image for “Celebrating America’s Independence and First Freedom”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SparklerAmericanFlag-scaled.jpg)
Celebrating America’s Independence and First Freedom
![Featured image for “State Department Releases Annual Report Documenting Dire Global Religious Freedom Picture”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IRF-Report-Cover-2023.png)
State Department Releases Annual Report Documenting Dire Global Religious Freedom Picture
![Featured image for “RFI President David Trimble Talks Religious Freedom Week on Drew Mariani Show”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/RFWLogo_FullColor.jpeg)
RFI President David Trimble Talks Religious Freedom Week on Drew Mariani Show
CORNERSTONE FORUM
![Featured image for “Challenges to Religious Freedom in Iraq and the Critical Need for Action”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_3666.jpg)
Challenges to Religious Freedom in Iraq and the Critical Need for Action
![Featured image for “Public Bioethics & the Failure of Expressive Individualism”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/headshot.jpg)
Public Bioethics & the Failure of Expressive Individualism
![Featured image for “Religious Liberty in American Higher Education”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/031623-Jennifer-Lichter-002-e1682974563353.png)
Religious Liberty in American Higher Education
![Featured image for “Scotland’s Kate Forbes and the March of Secularism”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jerry-Li-Pic01.jpg)
Scotland’s Kate Forbes and the March of Secularism
![Featured image for “70 Years of Religious Freedom in Sweden: Prospects and Challenges”](https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Jacob-380-e1447190060158.jpg)