Differentiating between best palliative care options and the curative and palliative potential of surgery is key to developing dual intentional clarity.

Many pregnant undocumented immigrants are ineligible for public insurance covering prenatal care. National and state policies can either help or hinder patients’ access to health care that is universally recommended by professional guidelines.

Refusal of pediatric euthanasia can be considered iatrogenic insofar as it inadvertently prolongs patient suffering, but attitudes differ cross-culturally.

An argument that the concept of judicious dissent can resolve the debate over a physician’s conscience-based right to refuse to provide lawful services.

An argument that an individual physician’s conscience-based decision not to offer specific, lawful medical services should not restrict patients’ access to those services.

With good planning and good will, medical professionals’ right of conscience and patients’ rights to controversial services can be both protected and accommodated.

The careers of four physician legislators who have been successful in combining their medical and political identities are examined.

A physician advocate who has taken public advocacy stances against the federal government while employed by the government talks about the conflicts that arise between medicine and politics.

Expressing political views in a professional setting can be detrimental to the patient-physician relationship.

A physician member of Congress discusses what led him to enter into the political arena and the various public policy issues he has faced.