Health care and religion

Health care treatment and discrimination. More specifically, health care and religion. Should doctors be allowed to refuse treatment based on religious convictions? The U.S. Supreme Court says they can't. According to the story in the San Francisco Chronicle (8/19/08), the justices handed down a decision that requires California physicians to provide the same treatment for lesbian and gay couples as they would heterosexual couples regardless of their religious beliefs. If they are not willing to do so they must find a colleague in that office that can provide the requested treatment. The lawyers for the doctors protest the decision on the basis that it violates their religious freedom, forcing them to choose their profession or their faith and  that they would have done the same with any unmarried couple, not just lesbians or gays.

Here's what I think:

Doctors are in the business to save lives. Even though there are times when it may seem otherwise, there are those who truly believe that everyone deserves quality treatment and services, whatever they may be. Some procedures are optional and some are required to save lives. While fertility treatments may not be optional for those who are unable to conceive they are not required to save lives so I think physicians should be allowed to exercise their personal convictions in situations like this. Making a referral to another provider would be the decent thing to do. Is it discrimination? No,  after all, if one looks at this another way, those individuals who cannot afford expensive life saving treatments are refused by doctors and insurance companies everyday. These physicians are living according to their moral code. 

What do you think?