Section 9 of the AMA ethics code, which seems to be adopted automatically by APA states: "A physician shall support access to medical care for all people."

I question the relevance of this to the physician patient relationship, but more importantly it would seem that it could be applied, for example, to a physician who voted for a candidate for public office who opposed universal access to health care or to a physician who publicly opposed such access on his or her own.

This seems to be a political rather than ethical matter or a matter of conscience that a professional organization should leave to the individual.

Will these organizations now tell us the "ethical" position on gun control, abortion? Even where "torture" is involved we are not told it is unethical to support torture, only to pariticipate.