Why doctors should desist from being agents of the state

Just released files published by the Guardian.

“Intimate examinations – used to “check the marital status” of Indian and Pakistani women coming to Britain to marry – were on a far wider scale than was previously known.

The practice was banned in February 1979 after the Guardianexclusively reported that a 35-year-old Indian woman teacher was examined by a male doctor when she arrived at Heathrow to test whether she was a genuine wife-to-be who had not borne children and was still a virgin.

The Home Office initially denied that any internal examination had taken place.”

I am not aware of any body of evidence saying that physical examination can reliably detect virginity in any case, but this is an example of what happens when doctors do as they are asked to do by the state rather than what they should ethically do as medical professionals. Sadly, there are many other examples.

One Response to “Why doctors should desist from being agents of the state”

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