Equality v Conscience: Ethics and the Provision of Public Services
The Philosophers Magazine 69, July 2015
4 Pages Posted: 20 Oct 2015
Date Written: June 17, 2015
Abstract
Should Catholic adoption agencies be required to serve gay couples because they are willing to serve non-Catholics? Should Catholic hospitals be required to provide contraceptives to those who want them? Such questions lie at the heart of contemporary controversy, in Britain and the USA, over the appropriate scope for conscientious exemptions from antidiscrimination law, and over the implications of allowing voluntary associations a role in the provision of public goods and services. Freedom of conscience requires that faith-based institutions be free to serve their members’ needs in accordance with their religious teachings. But what should happen when faith-based institutions serve the general public, often with public funds?
Keywords: freedom of conscience, equallity, democracy, provision of public services, voluntary associations
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