Self-regulation is very much a privilege and not a right of the medical profession. It is something we constantly must strive to uphold through our actions, collectively and individually.
As you know, there are members of the public now on these regulatory bodies, and we look to them for guidance as well. This is critical to what it means to be a medical professional—the ability to self-regulate and to hold our members to a high standard.
On issues such as conscientious objection, we often look to the colleges for guidance. This has been a difficult issue, again, because of some of the inconsistencies in the guidance that has come forward.