Libertad de Conciencia. Conflictos Biojurídicos en las Sociedades Multiculturales

Abstract

The paper analyzes the right of healthcare professionals to conscientious objection in multicultural societies. Ethical relativism, characteristic of these societies, lives together with an apparently paradoxical reduction of the exercise of freedom of conscience. It is written "Apparently" because, in the end, ethical relativism tends to the adoption of dogmatic attitudes. Special attention is paid to the situation of Spanish healthcare in relation with euthanasia and abortion. With regard to euthanasia, the "dignified dead" draft bill of Andalusía is considered. With regard to abortion, we will pay attention to the reform of the Penal Code in the context of a new regulation about "reproductive health" of women, which means the adoption of a system of time limits, and the characterization of abortion as a women's right. It is concluded that the freedom of conscience of healthcare professionals would be probably at risk if proposed legal policies don't change.