Samvetet i vården: En rättsutredning om samvetsfrihet och samvetsvägran inom vården
(2025) LAGF03 20251Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Samvetsfriheten är en mänsklig rättighet som bland annat skyddas under artikel 9 i Europakonventionen. På senaste tiden har denna rättighet uppmärksammats i samband med att en barnmorska nekats anställning vid flera kvinnokliniker uteslutande för att hon, på grund av sitt samvete, inte kunde medverka vid abort. I samband med att införandet av aktiv dödshjälp har börjat diskuteras i Sverige är det möjligt att debatten kring samvetsfriheten inom vården återigen blir aktuell.
I denna uppsats utreds hur samvetsfriheten för vårdpersonal regleras i svensk rätt och huruvida denna reglering kan anses förenlig med artikel 9 i Europakonventionen. Avslutningsvis utförs en normativ analys angående huruvida en rätt till samvetsvägran för svensk... (More) - Samvetsfriheten är en mänsklig rättighet som bland annat skyddas under artikel 9 i Europakonventionen. På senaste tiden har denna rättighet uppmärksammats i samband med att en barnmorska nekats anställning vid flera kvinnokliniker uteslutande för att hon, på grund av sitt samvete, inte kunde medverka vid abort. I samband med att införandet av aktiv dödshjälp har börjat diskuteras i Sverige är det möjligt att debatten kring samvetsfriheten inom vården återigen blir aktuell.
I denna uppsats utreds hur samvetsfriheten för vårdpersonal regleras i svensk rätt och huruvida denna reglering kan anses förenlig med artikel 9 i Europakonventionen. Avslutningsvis utförs en normativ analys angående huruvida en rätt till samvetsvägran för svensk vårdpersonal är att anse som något önskvärt eller inte.
Av utredningen framkommer att det i svensk rätt inte finns någon uttrycklig rätt för vårdpersonal att av samvetsskäl avstå från att utföra vissa arbetsuppgifter för vilka de har samvetsbetänkligheter. Vidare drar jag slutsatsen att den svenska regleringen av samvetsfriheten inom vården inte är fullt förenlig med artikel 9 i Europakonventionen. Denna bedömning grundar sig i att Arbetsdomstolen, enligt min mening, gjort en juridiskt otillräcklig prövning av samvetsfriheten i ljuset av Europadomstolens praxis.
Fortsättningsvis, efter att ha vägt argument både för och emot en rätt till samvetsvägran för vårdpersonal, drar jag slutsatsen att en sådan rätt är att anse som önskvärd. Denna slutsats drar jag eftersom en rätt till samvetsvägran skulle innebära att man i högre grad respekterar en etisk och religiös mångfald bland vårdpersonalen, samtidigt som man främjar ett självkritiskt förhållningssätt inom vården. Detta skulle i sin tur kunna bidra till att brister i vårdutövningen i högre grad identifieras och åtgärdas. En sådan rätt behöver dock noggrant regleras, så att den hålls inom rimliga gränser och inte äventyrar patienters tillgång till nödvändig vård. (Less) - Abstract
- Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right, protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In recent years, this right has attracted attention in Sweden, particularly in a case where a midwife was denied employment at several women’s clinics solely because she, for reasons of conscience, would not participate in abortion procedures. As the introduction of assisted dying is increasingly being discussed in Sweden, it is likely that the debate on freedom of conscience in healthcare will resurface.
This paper examines how freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals is regulated under Swedish law, and whether this regulation is compatible with Article 9 of the ECHR. Finally, a normative analysis is... (More) - Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right, protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In recent years, this right has attracted attention in Sweden, particularly in a case where a midwife was denied employment at several women’s clinics solely because she, for reasons of conscience, would not participate in abortion procedures. As the introduction of assisted dying is increasingly being discussed in Sweden, it is likely that the debate on freedom of conscience in healthcare will resurface.
This paper examines how freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals is regulated under Swedish law, and whether this regulation is compatible with Article 9 of the ECHR. Finally, a normative analysis is conducted on whether a right to conscientious objection for Swedish healthcare professionals should or should not be considered desirable.
My investigation shows that Swedish law does not grant healthcare professionals the right to refuse performing certain tasks, such as abortion, on grounds of conscience. Furthermore, I conclude that the current Swedish regulation of freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals is not fully compatible with Article 9 of the ECHR. This conclusion is based on my assessment that the Swedish Labour Court has conducted a legally insufficient examination of the issue of freedom of conscience in the light of the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Furthermore, after weighing arguments both for and against granting healthcare professionals a right to conscientious objection, I conclude that such a right should in fact be considered desirable. I draw this conclusion because such a right would demonstrate a greater respect for ethical and religious diversity and would, at the same time, promote a more reflective and critical approach among healthcare professionals. This may in turn help ensure that deficiencies in medical practice are identified and addressed to a greater degree. However, such a right must be clearly regulated to ensure that it remains within reasonable limits and does not jeopardize patients’ access to essential healthcare. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9189972
- author
- Hultman, Max LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- rättsvetenskap, samvetsfrihet
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9189972
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-23 12:59:57
- date last changed
- 2025-07-15 16:31:47
@misc{9189972,
abstract = {{Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right, protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In recent years, this right has attracted attention in Sweden, particularly in a case where a midwife was denied employment at several women’s clinics solely because she, for reasons of conscience, would not participate in abortion procedures. As the introduction of assisted dying is increasingly being discussed in Sweden, it is likely that the debate on freedom of conscience in healthcare will resurface.
This paper examines how freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals is regulated under Swedish law, and whether this regulation is compatible with Article 9 of the ECHR. Finally, a normative analysis is conducted on whether a right to conscientious objection for Swedish healthcare professionals should or should not be considered desirable.
My investigation shows that Swedish law does not grant healthcare professionals the right to refuse performing certain tasks, such as abortion, on grounds of conscience. Furthermore, I conclude that the current Swedish regulation of freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals is not fully compatible with Article 9 of the ECHR. This conclusion is based on my assessment that the Swedish Labour Court has conducted a legally insufficient examination of the issue of freedom of conscience in the light of the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Furthermore, after weighing arguments both for and against granting healthcare professionals a right to conscientious objection, I conclude that such a right should in fact be considered desirable. I draw this conclusion because such a right would demonstrate a greater respect for ethical and religious diversity and would, at the same time, promote a more reflective and critical approach among healthcare professionals. This may in turn help ensure that deficiencies in medical practice are identified and addressed to a greater degree. However, such a right must be clearly regulated to ensure that it remains within reasonable limits and does not jeopardize patients’ access to essential healthcare.}},
author = {{Hultman, Max}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Samvetet i vården: En rättsutredning om samvetsfrihet och samvetsvägran inom vården}},
year = {{2025}},
}