Who can honestly say that their own beliefs and values do not influence the decisions they make, no matter how subtle and subconscious that influence might be? That we expect clinicians to divorce themselves from their own personal values while they deal with the complex moral problems presented by end-of-life decisions could be construed as naive.
If doctors feel that their beliefs, religious or otherwise, are influencing their ability to fulfil their professional obligations, then they must have the professional integrity and self-awareness to acknowledge this, and remove themselves from any situation in which their values are incompatible with delivering the standards of care demanded of them. Perhaps it is time to replace the “no religion, no politics” admonition with that more ancient aphorism hewn into the stone of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: know thyself.
