NSS to hold October conference on healthcare & secularism
Posted: Mon, 9th Jul 2018
The National Secular Society will hold its first ever conference on the role of secularism within healthcare in October.
The Healthcare & Secularism Conference will be held in central Birmingham on Saturday 27 October. It will give participants the opportunity to discuss the most secular medical issues today, including conscientious objection, ritual circumcision, pastoral care and assisted dying.
Featuring talks by academics and experts in the fields of medicine, law and ethics, the conference will be an opportunity for doctors, healthcare professionals, researchers, campaigners and others interested in medical ethics to meet, network and further the discussion about how the human rights of patients of all faiths and none can be protected.
Confirmed speakers will include Dr Michael Irwin, Brian Earp and Anne Furedi.
The conference will be chaired by Dr Antony Lempert, Chair of the Secular Medical Forum.
Dr Lempert said, "Where healthcare and religion collide hard-won freedoms are threatened.
"The inherent tension between personal autonomy and religious requirements is nowhere more evident than in the fields of sexual and reproductive health and end of life care. When should one person's ability to choose what happens to their own body be taken out of their hands? Should there be limits placed on healthcare professionals who conscientiously object to providing certain healthcare services? Should parents be allowed to choose medically unnecessary treatment for their children to satisfy religious requirements?
This conference will draw together expert speakers on these subjects and delegates have the chance to join in the discussion and to inform the debate."
Tickets are just £10 for members, £15 for non-members and include lunch and refreshments.
Religious dogma shouldn't interfere with your healthcare
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