From Institutional Neutrality to Professional Identity: Conscientious Objection and the Regulation of Religious Presence in the Medical Professions

Abstract

The article analyses the conscience clause in the medical professions as a manifestation of a broader process of regulating the presence of religion in professional practice. Its point of departure is the Polish cooperative model of state–religion relations, in which institutional neutrality does not entail the elimination of religion from the public sphere but rather its regulated presence. The article adopts an interdisciplinary approach, combining the dogmatic legal method with perspectives drawn from pedagogy, medical education, and the sociology of professions. The analysis covers Polish constitutional and medical law, European standards for the protection of freedom of conscience, and the processes through which physicians’ professional identity is formed. The analysis explores the hypothesis that institutional neutrality may evolve into an expectation of professional neutrality, while the conscience clause reveals the normative boundaries of a physician’s religious identity. Particular attention is given to medical education, professional socialisation, and the hidden curriculum as possible mechanisms through which standards of professionalism and neutrality may be internalised. The conscience clause should therefore be understood not only as a legal institution but also as part of broader processes regulating religious identity in the medical professions.