Polish Chamber of Physicians: Prof. Bogdan Chazan did not commit professional misconduct. “The conscience of man is indivisible”

Chief Agent (Naczelny Rzecznik Odpowiedzialności Zawodowej, NROZ) discontinued the investigation into the refusal of an abortion request by a patient at Holy Family Hospital, Warsaw.

After the resumption of the investigation, the spokesman upheld its decision of 30 May, 2015. And stated that Professor Bogdan Chazan did not commit professional misconduct. As stated by the spokesman, the doctor has a duty, not only the right, to carry out procedures in accordance with their conscience.

The Ombudsman found that the operation of the hospital director, by refusing to perform abortions because of the reference made by the doctor to the conscience clause, was consistent with the provisions of the Act of the Profession of Physician and Dentist and the Code of Medical Ethics.

“The conscience of man is indivisible”

– Prof. B. Chazan gave his medical opinion, acting as a doctor. Although Prof. B. Chazan served an administrative function in the hospital, in the consulting patients, issuing opinions, the performance of health services, in all actions and activities he served as a doctor – said the spokesman. In this way, he decided the key question, raised as a justification for the exemption Prof. Bogdan Chazan from the position of Director of the Hospital. – Holy Family, Chief Agent (Naczelny Rzecznik Odpowiedzialności Zawodowej, NROZ).

The NROZ found a clear and acceptable stance in favor of the Professor, Bogdan Chazan, that “the conscience of man is indivisible.” He recalled the decision of the Constitutional Court of 7 October 2015, according to which “the freedom of conscience of every human being is a category of the primary and inalienable, that constitutional law and international regulations only guarantee a. Freedom of conscience – this is the element which is conscientious objection – must be so respected regardless of whether there are laws to confirm it. ”

Will he return to the position?

In May 2015 the prosecution discontinued proceedings against Prof. Bogdan Chazan refusing abortion, considering that the action of the doctor did not expose the patient to an immediate danger of loss of life or serious bodily injury, and were not a transgression of power or failure to fulfill obligations.

On the basis of media allegations and unfinished proceedings, the decision was made to dismiss Prof. Bogdan Chazan from the position of Director of the Holy Family Hospital by Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. The case before the courts for the restoration of  the doctor in the position of director of the hospital is in progress.

Advisor Jerzy Kwasniewski, representing Professor Bogdan Chazan, said that the decision of the Ombudsman is essential to establish the nature of the medical profession as the profession of public trust. – From the perspective of bioethics, the decision of medical self-government is fundamental to maintaining the primacy of human dignity where the practice of medicine affects matters of life and death. Only the independence of the doctor, acting according to his best knowledge and conscience, can guarantee the proper implementation of the rights of the patient – the lawyer Kwasniewski said.

IAR kh