A 25 year old woman could not obtain a prescription for contraceptives at a clinic in Ottawa because the physician did not prescribe them for reasons of “medical judgment as well as professional ethical concerns and religious values.” She obtained the prescription at a clinic two minutes away. A crusade was started against the physician and two colleagues with the same views. Crusaders argued that in a ‘secular’ state health care system, physicians should be forbidden to act on their moral or religious beliefs.
