Registers, conscientious objectors, consequentialism and responses

I feel privileged to receive so many thoughtful commentaries. Four commentaries focus on my proposal for a register system to manage conscientious objection (CO) in healthcare. Reasons of space meant I was unable to develop this proposal to any great extent in my article.1 Hirschberg et al2 explore practical and ethical issues involved in implementing a register system. I am pleased to have provoked further discussion of the proposal, and I thank them for their efforts. Boretti3 offers three practical suggestions to help minimise the influence of factors that could discourage participation in a register system. These strike me as helpful and commonsensical. I endorse all three.

Meng4 worries that the implementation of a register system could undermine the cohesion of multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals when only some members are willing to offer particular procedures, weakening joint decision-making processes. Such problems are…

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