Samvetsfrihet
En studie om vårdpersonals rättigheter till och upplevelser av samvetsfrihet vid abortverksamhet i Sverige och Norge
LawFreedom of conscienceConscientious objectionHealth care employeesAbortionRättsvetenskapSamvetsfrihetSamvetsvägranVårdpersonalAbort
The right to freedom of conscience is protected by international conventions and declarations of human rights that have been ratified by Sweden. Nationally, the issue of health professionals? right to freedom of conscience in the abortion care is not resolved by public inquiry. This has led to that Sweden has been notified to the European Committee of Social Rights on the grounds that the country is considered to be violating the Council of Europe Resolution 1763 and that the proper question to be determined by regulations of the interests that are balanced, based on their legal value in relation to each other. Freedoms, rights and obligations conflict with each other. In Norway the health professionals are legally entitled to abstain from performing and assisting abortion, which the employer is obliged to consider in organizing its activities. In light of the countries different regulations but similar legal traditions, the study includes an empirical comparison of health care employees experiences of conscience in the context of the abortion care. How the Swedish law relates to the legal ruling and normative rules of conscience and whether a right to conscientious objection can be derived from case law, is examined in the study. The legal investigation shows that Sweden does not recognize and guarantee freedom of conscience in the abortion care. The fact that career choices are based on voluntariness speaks in the essay against a right to conscientious objection. This is proved by the ECHR and the European Commission's general view that the manifestations attributable to belief or religion can not be considered a subject to discrimination, if the situation includes possible obstacles to religious practice can be traced to volunteerism. The essays empirical comparison is displaying what the complexity of freedom of conscience means in abortion activities organized by different legal systems. The informantsworking inSwedenfear thataconscience clauseshalllimit women?s rightto abortionandthat health professionalsshould not havean equivalentapproach tothe patients.Furthermore they fearedproblemsrelated toorganization andwork environment.The informantsworking in Norwayhave experiencedproblemsthrough conflictsbetween health professionalsrelated toreservationright.