Do doctors have the right to refuse to treat a patient?

Question

I am doing "should Euthanasia become legal in the USA" as a debate question and I was wondering if it did, would a doctor have the right to refuce to kill the patient. If so, this would take a huge chunk out of the other teams argument that it shouldn't.

and i was wondering if you could paste what document says that you can.

Answer 1

Doctors do in fact have the right to refuse treatment, especially in non-emergency situations. Since euthenasia is not an emergency, then a doctor cannot be compelled to perform it.

Answer 2

If euthanasia were to become legal in the US, I think doctors would have the right to refuse to assist.

In other countries, I don't think doctors would have this right. It comes down to very strong religious beliefs in the US, which many European countries have abandoned lately.

Euthanasia comes down to what is best for the patient, not what the doctor wants. You are already seeing that doctors let a 14 year old boy with Leukemia refuse a blood transfusion due to his belief system, well knowing he was signing his own death sentence (this was in the news a few weeks ago).

Basically, we are entering a new era where patients are much more involved in the active decision making of their care. They educate themselves via internet and print, and are aware of their options. We no longer live in a time where patients trusted their doctors blindly, and allowed them to be bled (halfway) to death to cure the common cold.

I believe doctors have the responsibility to act in a way that is best for their patient, regardless of where this takes them. (I will not get into the legal details, or how we can ensure that the patient understands the decision, and is not coerced into it by family or doctors - this is another topic than could extend for miles and miles of paper).

If you are looking to argue that doctors have the right to decide whether they will participate in this type of care, then you could argue that religious beliefs or morals should be respected, and that doctors should refuse to offer this care if it goes against their beliefs (just as doctors currently do not have to offer abortions if they are against it). I, however, don't agree with this.

Answer 3

Well I know for a fact, a HOSPITAL can not refuse treatment of a patient regardless of financial stability, but you are going to an interesting venue as far as asking if a doc can refuse to euthanize.
Not being a doctor myself, I dont know all the lopps and whatnot they can or can not do, but morally you can not make someone kill another person, based on the mere request of the patient. And I think legalizing it wouldnt change much of the opinions of doctors today. So, in my opinion, even with it legal, you can make one person kill another.

Answer 4

As a rule docs can refuse treatment if the procedure is not life-threatening [elective surgery, for example].
Part of the credo for doctors is "First, do no harm." this would need to be modified if euthanasia were legal.

Answer 5

Private hospitals CAN and DO refuse treatment of patients. Public, county and city hospitals CANNOT refuse patients because they are using public funds.