This paper considers ethical dilemmas arising where a patient asks their General Practitioner for advice and their personal opinion regarding whether or not to have an abortion. Patients often seek their General Practitioner’s advice regarding treatments and procedures, which may occasionally lead to the General Practitioner facing a difficult dilemma of whether to share their personal opinion with their patient. As General Practitioners are more accessible as the first point of contact for patients and often have a closer relationship with them, they may be particularly exposed to such situations. Additionally, the significance of abortion as a sensitive topic and the fact the General Practitioner may have their own personal viewpoint on its morality may make it particularly difficult for them to know how to respond to such a request. This paper explores the difficulties arising in such a situation and considers whether it could ever be ethically justifiable for General Practitioners to express their opinions on such a matter. We consider the duties of a doctor, and highlight the need for clearer guidance for healthcare professionals on managing tensions in their professional boundaries between their personal moral views and their professional responsibilities. A range of ethical viewpoints are considered to explore how a doctor might ap, in particular the principle of autonomy, virtue ethics, and consequentialism. This article recognises that a General Practitioner in a situation such as this faces many ethical challenges. We propose that offering their opinion to the patient where specifically requested may be morally justifiable. A virtue ethics approach in particular requires that the General Practitioner applies practical wisdom to make this decision, and where they do disclose their opinion ensure this is done so in such a manner that it does not harm the patient and promotes flourishing. We encourage GPs and other healthcare professionals to consider their own moral perspectives on sensitive issues such as abortion, and reflect on how their moral viewpoints have the potential to influence their practice. In doing so, we hope clinicians can be better should they be faced with a situation such as this.

中文翻译：

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全科医生公开他们对妇女堕胎决定的看法在道德上是否允许？


本文考虑了患者向全科医生询问是否堕胎的建议和个人意见时出现的道德困境。患者经常寻求全科医生有关治疗和手术的建议，这有时可能会导致全科医生面临是否与患者分享个人意见的两难困境。由于全科医生作为患者的第一接触点更容易接近，并且往往与患者关系更密切，因此他们可能特别容易遇到这种情况。此外，堕胎作为一个敏感话题的重要性以及全科医生可能对其道德有自己的个人观点的事实可能使他们特别难以知道如何回应这样的要求。本文探讨了这种情况下出现的困难，并考虑全科医生就此类问题表达自己的意见在道德上是否合理。我们考虑了医生的职责，并强调需要为医疗保健专业人员提供更明确的指导，以管理个人道德观念与职业责任之间的职业界限紧张关系。在探索医生如何应用时，考虑了一系列伦理观点，特别是自主原则、美德伦理和结果主义。本文认识到，在这种情况下，全科医生面临着许多道德挑战。我们建议，在有特别要求的情况下向患者提供他们的意见可能在道德上是合理的。 美德伦理方法特别要求全科医生运用实践智慧来做出这一决定，并且在他们确实披露自己的意见时，确保以不会伤害患者并促进繁荣的方式这样做。我们鼓励全科医生和其他医疗保健专业人员考虑自己对堕胎等敏感问题的道德观点，并反思他们的道德观点如何影响他们的实践。在此过程中，我们希望临床医生在面对这样的情况时能够做得更好。