Biomaterial Database

Abortifacient drugs: ethico-legal issues. 1991

S Wright

It is conceivable that an oral medicine capable of terminating pregnancy will become available for use in this country. Such a drug will pose significant moral and legal dilemmas for nurses who may find themselves embroiled in situations where they are uncertain of how to reconcile their consciences with statutory law and the requirements of their employers. The RCN Ethics and Nursing Committee offer some guidance on how nurses should act under such difficult circumstances.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011364	Professional Practice	The use of one's knowledge in a particular profession. It includes, in the case of the field of biomedicine, professional activities related to health care and the actual performance of the duties related to the provision of health care.	Practice, Professional,Practices, Professional,Professional Practices
D004993	Ethics, Nursing	The principles of proper professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of nurses themselves, their patients, and their fellow practitioners, as well as their actions in the care of patients and in relations with their families.	Nursing Ethics,Ethic, Nursing,Nursing Ethic
D005260	Female		Females
D006113	United Kingdom	Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London.	Great Britain,Isle of Man
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000019	Abortifacient Agents	Chemical substances that interrupt pregnancy after implantation.	Abortifacient Effect,Abortifacient Effects,Abortifacients,Contraceptive Agents, Postconception,Agents, Abortifacient,Agents, Postconception Contraceptive,Effect, Abortifacient,Effects, Abortifacient,Postconception Contraceptive Agents
D012956	Societies, Nursing	Societies whose membership is limited to nurses.	Nursing Societies,Nursing Society,Society, Nursing
D016079	Refusal to Treat	Refusal of the health professional to initiate or continue treatment of a patient or group of patients. The refusal can be based on any reason. The concept is differentiated from PATIENT REFUSAL OF TREATMENT see TREATMENT REFUSAL which originates with the patient and not the health professional.	Patient Abandonment,Physician Refusal to Treat,Abandonment, Patient