Distinguishing between elective and therapeutic abortions undermines the moral agency of patients and disproportionately amplifies moral rather than medical dimensions of the procedure.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1175-1180. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1175.
Physicians should provide women considering abortion after Down syndrome screening with unbiased information and not attempt to influence their decision.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(4):359-364. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.4.ecas1-1604.
Peter Ellis, MD, MPH and Lydia S. Dugdale, MD, MAR
Presenting all, including expensive, options to all patients means advocating not only for individual patients, but also for a just health care system.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E26-31. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.26.
Going to so-called safety-net clinics could mean being subject to different standards of care than those in other health care delivery settings. Learners who understand social determinants of health might be able to help patients navigate the system and access community resources.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E44-49. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.44.
Labels commonly used in clinical settings, like “elective” or “therapeutic,” influence how we think about the justifiability of abortion. We talk with Professor Katie Watson and Dr Maryl Sackeim about how the language clinicians use to describe abortion can affect patients’ experiences and even cause harm.
This graphic storybook portrays an undocumented child in the United States who is denied fundamental human rights to health care, education, shelter, and food.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E111-112. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.111.
John is one patient-sitter whose cancer and portraiture experiences illuminate what it means to witness, to express regard for another’s difficult health and health care experiences.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(6):E470-475. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.470.