Rex Ahdar and Ian Leigh
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199606474
- eISBN:
- 9780191744259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606474.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This chapter examines several medico-legal issues insofar as they have a religious dimension or implicate the religious liberty of the persons seeking or refusing treatment. The chapter is organized ...
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This chapter examines several medico-legal issues insofar as they have a religious dimension or implicate the religious liberty of the persons seeking or refusing treatment. The chapter is organized as follows. Section II summarizes the law concerning medical treatment, contrasting the position of adults, adolescents or teenagers, and infants. Section III considers the underlying assumptions represented in the disputes between the law and certain religionists who spurn conventional medical treatment in favour of exclusive reliance upon prayer or other spiritual cures. The premises which form the central tenets of conventional or orthodox medicine — reliance upon rationality, insistence upon the scientific method, the need for empirical evidence — have recently been challenged, not only by some devout religionists, but by also a raft of ‘alternative’ health practitioners. Section IV discusses two examples of these broader themes. The chapter concludes with some observations on the extent to which a liberal state accommodates the wishes of believers when they seek to determine their own or their children's health.Less
This chapter examines several medico-legal issues insofar as they have a religious dimension or implicate the religious liberty of the persons seeking or refusing treatment. The chapter is organized as follows. Section II summarizes the law concerning medical treatment, contrasting the position of adults, adolescents or teenagers, and infants. Section III considers the underlying assumptions represented in the disputes between the law and certain religionists who spurn conventional medical treatment in favour of exclusive reliance upon prayer or other spiritual cures. The premises which form the central tenets of conventional or orthodox medicine — reliance upon rationality, insistence upon the scientific method, the need for empirical evidence — have recently been challenged, not only by some devout religionists, but by also a raft of ‘alternative’ health practitioners. Section IV discusses two examples of these broader themes. The chapter concludes with some observations on the extent to which a liberal state accommodates the wishes of believers when they seek to determine their own or their children's health.
Claire van Overdijk
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198727255
- eISBN:
- 9780191927515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/9780198727255.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Private International Law
The territory of England and Wales forms a single jurisdiction covering two of the four countries of the United Kingdom (‘UK’). England and Wales together form the constitutional successor to the ...
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The territory of England and Wales forms a single jurisdiction covering two of the four countries of the United Kingdom (‘UK’). England and Wales together form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England and follow a single legal system, known as English law.
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The territory of England and Wales forms a single jurisdiction covering two of the four countries of the United Kingdom (‘UK’). England and Wales together form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England and follow a single legal system, known as English law.
