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PRINCIPLES REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS

The American Medical Student Association:

1. BELIEVES in the following general principles regarding human rights:

a. Human rights are in essence the protection of human dignity, per the UN Declaration of Human Rights. (2004)

b. Human rights principles include:

i. Civil and political rights enumerated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

ii. Economic, social and cultural rights enumerated in the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural rights. (2004)

2. With regards to health care:

a. BELIEVES that every individual has the right to the highest attainable standard of health; (2004)

b. RECOGNIZES the principle in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights that states that health care must fulfill the following criteria to attain the highest standard of health: accessibility, availability, acceptability, and quality; (2004)

c. RECOGNIZES that the right to health is closely related and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, including the right to food, housing, work, education, participation, the enjoyment of the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, life, non-discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, and the freedoms of association, assembly, and movement. (2004)

3. With regards to the application and enforcement of rights:

a. BELIEVES that governments and third-party entities have an obligation to uphold human rights principles. Third-party entities include transnational corporations, financial institutions, and third-party governments. (2004)

b. BELIEVES that governments, both national and international, are primarily responsible for enforcement. (2004)

c. DENOUNCES governments engaging in acts that violate human rights and UPHOLDS the principle of positive rights, such that governments are responsible for providing certain services in order to fulfill the right of individuals to certain necessities, such as education, health, shelter; (2004)

d. BELIEVES that inaction by a government to eradicate health disparities exhibits a failure to adhere to international human rights law. (2006)

4. BELIEVES that human rights are applicable to all individuals, regardless of sex, health status, race, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, politics, or other characteristics. Rights shall therefore not be denied or abridged on account of individual characteristics. (2004)

5. RECOGNIZES that the above general principles are incorporated in:

a. The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states in Article I that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." (2004)

b. The 1966 twin documents of the International Covenant of Political and Social Rights, and the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; (2004)

c. The 1975 Helsinki Agreement;

d. The 1975 Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

e. The 1978 Declaration of Alma Ata; (2004)

f. Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; (2004)

g. Convention on Rights of the Child; (2004)

h. International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. (2004)

6. BELIEVES that health and human rights are integral to one another, such that:

a. The protection of human rights is integral to health. (2004)

b. The right to accessible, quality health care is a human right. (2004)

c. Poor health is both a reflection and sympton of social inequities and disparate provisions of social services. (2006)

7. BELIEVES that physicians should be free to fulfill their ethical obligations to patients and society according to the World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Geneva. Thus, the American Medical Student Association:

a. CONDEMNS the participation by an MD, DO, healthcare worker or medical student in state or third-party violations of human rights, including but not limited to torture, and eugenics (as described below); (2004)

b. CONDEMNS the use of medical knowledge contrary to the international human rights laws; (2004)

c. BELIEVES that the nature of professionalism, reinforced by the authority given through licensing, bestows on health professionals a particular obligation to respect their patients' human rights; (2004)

d. BELIEVES that states should structure their relationships to health professionals to protect the independence of the health professional from state demands or pressures, and put in place mechanisms to protect physicians who seek to comply with their ethical and human rights obligations in the face of state demands to the contrary; (2004)

e. URGES medical schools to educate students about their accountability to international law, which promotes health as a human right. (2006)

8. In regard to genetic discrimination:

a. OPPOSES discrimination in any form solely on the basis of any biologically or genetically determined trait; (1996)

b. SUPPORTS the development by scientists, physicians and bioethicists of guidelines governing the use of genetic technology and access to individual genetic profiles; (1996)

c. SUPPORTS nondirective genetic counseling and BELIEVES that individuals must be allowed to make educated health-care decisions without undue persuasion by outside parties;(1996)

d. OPPOSES eugenics, the practice of artificially increasing the frequency of "desirable" individuals while decreasing the frequency of "undesirable" individuals in a population, and ENCOURAGES the inclusion in medical school curricula the history of the eugenics movements of the United States and Nazi Germany, and the potential for abuse of developing genetic technologies. (1996)

9. In regard to third-party payers:

a. SUPPORTS the right of a couple to have children despite known genetic risks and OPPOSES the practice of insurers refusing to pay for the care of children born with congenital malformations or a disease of which the parents are identified carriers. (1996)

10. STRONGLY URGES the United States government to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1996)

11. SUPPORTS timely progressive realization of the proactive fulfillment of health and human rights. (2006)

12. ENCOURAGES amendments to the equal opportunity language in international human rights law that reflects an appreciation for the growing diversity of our global population. (2006)

13. In regard to capital punishment:

a. BELIEVES in the sanctity of life and therefore OPPOSES the use and concept of capital punishment and physician involvement in executions, specifically:

1. Administration of lethal injection; (1996)

2. Witnessing execution; (1996)

3. Pronouncing death after execution. (1996)

b. CONDEMNS in all its aspects the concept of execution by intravenous injection. This includes support for:

1. the repeal of laws authorizing execution by lethal injection where these laws exist, working to prevent the passage of such laws where they are being considered, and educating the public in general as to dangers and ethical objections to these laws under all circumstances;

2. a boycott on the prescription to penal institutions or to individuals associated with such institutions, of substances one suspects will be used in lethal injections;

3. a boycott on preparing or supervising the preparation of substances that one suspects will be used in lethal injections;

4. a boycott on initiating, supervising the initiation of, or aiding the maintenance of an intravenous injection site one suspects will be used for lethal injection;

5. a boycott on witnessing executions by lethal injections;

6. a boycott on participating in or supervising the actual execution by injection procedure;

7. physician refusal to pronounce death in cases one suspects occurred due to execution by lethal injection.

14. In regard to female genital mutilation: (1995)

a. OPPOSES the practice of female genital mutilation in the United States, and; (1995)

b. ENCOURAGES physicians, midwives, nurse practitioners and folk healers to be aware of the cultural context in which female genital mutilation is practiced, and to inform people contemplating the procedure for themselves or their daughters about the health risks and emotional trauma. (1995)

15. In regards to torture:

a. BELIEVES that the physician's professional obligation is to the patient's health, and therefore OPPOSES the use and concept of torture and physician involvement in torture, including deliberate, systemic or wanton administration of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatments or punishments during imprisonment or detainment. Participation in torture includes, but is not limited to, providing or withholding any services, substance or knowledge to facilitate the practice of torture. (2005)

b. AFFIRMS the World Medical Association's (WMA) support of the physician's ethical obligation to report cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of which they are aware; (2005)

c. RECOGNIZES the general principles established in the following:

i. The United Nations Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the "Istanbul Protocol"); (2005)

ii. The United Nations Principles of Medical Ethics Relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, Particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. (2005)

d. SUPPORTS the training of medical professionals in the identification of different modes of torture and their sequelae for the purpose of better patient care. (2005)