deletedsoul and DeusExMichael, thanks for your comtmnes.  You've confirmed for me that this belief is more cultural than religious.  But, still, it definitely belongs under the heading of  religious freaks .The question of medical ethics is an interesting one.  There's a lot of discussion taking place  in the context of pharmacists dispensing  emergency contraception  (i.e. abortifactents).  It's an interesting discussion, and I encourage everyone interested in this topic to read it.That's not relevant to this case, though.  While there's a case to be had for a doctor not performing a procedure that they find morally objectionable (the consensus seems to be that if the procedure is legal, they do have some professional obligation to refer the patient, though it depends highly on the situation), this is not about that.  This is about a doctor who finds the patient's parents morally objectionable.That is a gross violation of medical ethics.  Having said that: Given that the condition wasn't a medical emergency, if this was a private practice and had the doctor referred the patient to someone who would do the treatment, perhaps we wouldn't be objecting so strongly.