-Abortion- I don't see a problem with it; in fact, as Sacrament on here put it it's the greatest service offered to mankind by OB/GYNs
-Euthanasia- likewise, I don't see a problem with a patient having the choice not to suffer a lingering death simply because it might offend someone else's religious beliefs. Granted, there should be oversight, but it should be an option in terminal cases.
-Withdrawal of care- I don't believe there is anything "sacred" about human life, (anymore than any other animal's life at least....in fact, I have less of a problem emptying a piece of **** person's skull with my .40 than I would doing the same to an aggressive dog). The "sanctity of life" which seems to be the argument that religious types tend to drag out whenever something comes up like this often to the point of blatantly ignoring evidence that they are wrong about their assertions (*cough* Terri Schiavo *cough*). Quality is vastly more important that quantity.
-Participation in executions- I grew up in the town that is home to federal death row and would have given my left testicle to have been the one to stick the needle in McVeigh's arm. Personally I think we should not execute by lethal injection.....let's go for crucifixion. As George Carlin pointed out, it's a method the Christians and Jews of this country could really appreciate......and it takes a damn good long time and is therefore a better punishment because it requires the sleazebag being executed to suffer like his victims suffered. The added advantage is you really can do without a doc there for pronouncement....once the vultures start to work over the body, it's pretty obvious that he's dead.
-Refusal of care on religious grounds- This gets back to the whole JW thing.....you have a patient who tells you they don't want blood because an invisible man in the sky says they will be condemned to hell for it. How is that any different from someone saying that their neighbor's dog told them it? If you have a rational reason for not wanting it (fear of transmissible disease, TRALI, etc) that's one thing....but if you want to base your refusal on something that sounds like the rantings of a paranoid schizophrenic, we should be allowed to treat you under implied consent and save your sorry butt.
BTW, no I'm not claiming that religion is a form of mental illness, just that some people take to an extreme that approaches being psychopathology.
