The Uninsured

Number 416

(Replaces No. 308, December 2004)

ABSTRACT: The United States is one of the few industrialized nations in the world that do not guarantee health care for their populations. Access to health care for all women is of paramount concern ...

End-of-Life Decision Making

Number 403

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this Committee Opinion is to discuss issues related to end–of–life care, including terms and definitions, ethical principles, legal constructs, physician–patient communicatio...

Surgery and Patient Choice

Number 395

ABSTRACT: Acknowledgment of the importance of patient autonomy and increased patient access to information has prompted more patient–generated requests for surgical interventions not necessarily reco...

Ethical Decision Making in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Number 390

(Reaffirmed 2010)

ABSTRACT: Physicians vary widely in their familiarity with ethical theories and methods and their sensitivity toward ethical issues. It is important for physicians to improve their skills in addressi...

The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine

Number 385

(Reaffirmed 2010)

ABSTRACT: Health care providers occasionally may find that providing indicated, even standard, care would present for them a personal moral problem—a conflict of conscience—particularly in the field ...

Research Involving Women

Number 377

ABSTRACT: All women should be presumed to be eligible for participation in clinical studies. The potential for pregnancy should not automatically exclude a woman from participating in a clinical stud...

Patient Testing Ethical Issues in Selection and Counseling

Number 363

(Reaffirmed 2012)

ABSTRACT: Recommendations to patients about testing should be based on current medical knowledge, a concern for the patient's best interests, and mutual consultation. In addition to establishing a di...

Medical Futility

Number 362

(Reaffirmed 2008)

ABSTRACT: The construct of medical futility has been used to justify a physician's unilateral refusal to provide treatment requested or demanded by a patient or the family of a patient. It is importa...

Maternal Decision Making Ethics and the Law

Number 321

ABSTRACT: Recent legal actions and policies aimed at protecting the fetus as an entity separate from the woman have challenged the rights of pregnant women to make decisions about medical interventio...

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Women's Health

Number 317

ABSTRACT: Significant racial and ethnic disparities exist in women's health. These health disparities largely result from differences in socioeconomic status and insurance status. Although many dispa...