Opinia prawna w sprawie poselskiego projektu ustawy o zmianie ustawy o zawodach lekarza i lekarza dentysty

This opinion deals with a bill concerning conscientious objection clause in relation to doctors, contained in Article 39 of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist. The opinion emphasizes that the said provision (clause) in the current form is a manifestation of Poland’s constitutionally guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion. However, in so far as it on the same time imposes – on doctors guided in their professional practice by conscience – a duty to indicate the possible ways of obtaining diagnosis or treatment from another doctor, imposes limitations on their constitutional freedom of conscience and religion (Article 53 of the Constitution). An amendment of Article 39 of the Act, proposed in the bill, aims at strengthening the guarantee of that freedom. The responsibility for ensuring that patients have access to information about the institutions from which they can obtain medical assistance rests with the State.