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Who Decides? Resolving Conflicts between Individual Conscience and Institutional Identity

June 25, 2022

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There is an ongoing discussion on how to resolve conflicts that arise when an individual physician’s conscience informs him to act in a way that is contrary to the institutional identity of his employer. Prescribing a hormone regimen for contraceptive purposes while serving as an agent of a Catholic hospital is a common example. This essay seeks to resolve such conflicts by defining conscience and synderesis, distinguishing between positive and negative claims of conscience, identifying the principles and precepts of natural law, and applying the directives that guide Catholic health care.

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