Should the religious beliefs of healthcare providers effect the way care, treatment or advice is given to patients

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Medical professionals should not let their religious beliefs affect the health care outcomes in their patients. Religion in healthcare has become a big issue in today’s society. Various studies have indicated that physicians and other care providers are driven by their religious feelings while providing care for their patients. People have been refused treatment/care because of the healthcare workers religious beliefs. The discrimination of treatment and deviance of care has been noted on the issues of abortion, denial of appropriate treatment to transgender couples and overall a woman’s right to access care has been suppressed. This is an alarming situation, and under the context of medical ethics, such actions and behavior are nothing less than a criminal offence.
A healthcare institution should always provide the best care options in bringing positive health outcome in patients. In fact, medical ethics also endorses issues like beneficence and non-malificence. This means that every health care decision and planned intervention should be aimed to provide maximum health benefits to a patient. On the other hand, it is also important that the patient should not be harmed by treatment interventions either directly or indirectly. Direct harm may refer to side effects or impaired toleration profile, exhibited by a patient due to pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions. Indirect harm indicates refusal of treatment or inadequate care provision…