Conscience, Conscientious Objection and Commitment: Midwives, Nurses, and Abortion Care

This chapter is concerned with conscience and the role it plays in the work of midwives, nurses, and other healthcare practitioners in the provision of termination of pregnancy services. The first section outlines the standard account of “conscience” as an inward-looking faculty or process by which we can discern moral truths to guide and motivate human action. It further explains the notions of “freedom of conscience” and “conscientious objection” as they are generally articulated and defended in bioethics and law.