Accommodation And Duty
Over at Eastern Michigan University, just a stone's throw from Ann Arbor (and as soon at they throw enough stones they'll build the new student union), they're being sued for dismissing one Julea Ward from a graduate program in counseling.
Ward's religious views (from what I can gather) make her believe homosexuality is immoral. Because of this, she referred a gay person to another counselor for guidance. In fact, she was advised to do so.
Ward's actions were then reviewed by EMU, following the standards of the American Counseling Association. According to her lawsuit, she was requested to take a program that would have her change her beliefs regarding how to deal with homosexuality in counseling. She refused and was ultimately dismissed, which she claims was done on the basis of her religion.
These are hard cases, because we want people to be free to practice their religion and have freedom of conscience, but what happens when those beliefs change how they approach a job?
What was to follow here was a listing of difficult cases in the real world, but I don't have time right now. Sorry. Maybe later. And if you don't like it, remind me how much you're paying to read this blog?
posted by LAGuy @ 12:13 AM
5 Comments:
Interesting. Should we accord special respect to certain beliefs classified as "religious" but not to other beliefs? What if she refused to treat members of another religion she thought immoral, those with an astrological sign she thought was immoral, men in general, members of a political party or supporters of a particular policy etc...
Cliche alert- hard cases make bad law
That we give special respect to beliefs classified as "religious" would be, I'd think, a long-understood and well-grounded aspect of our legal system. The only question is how far does it go. For example, some would say religious beliefs should allow us to opt out of army service, but not allow us to smoke peyote. Or allow us to opt out of performing certain medical procedures, but not let us opt out of driving around people who drink alcohol.
The case is a lot more complicated than the short description provided, but lets assume the siutation is as described. Am I to assume from NE Guy's statements that this does not happen everyday without being placed in a situation where we are forced to articulate our belief for everyone to see? I used to provide mental health treatment to sex offenders, most therapists choose not to. Is there something that should be questioned about them? Or does their belief make sense? As people we are ALL highly judgemental, heck I guess I just made a judgement about NE Guy, who is now probably making a judgement about me...
At the end of The Sopranos, Tony's therapist decided to break off treatment because he didn't believe it was helping him. In fact, she thought it might provide him with excuses to remain a psychopath. Should she be brought up on charges for using her beliefs and judgments to deny care?
I think it's fairly simple to set a standard for health care professionals where they may refuse to provide care based on their personal beliefs except under circumstances where refusing care during an acute crisis creates a foreseeable risk of harm to the patient. Not too different from the standard other professionals are held to, but recognizing that health is in some ways unique.
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