ACOG committee opinion. Surgery and patient choice: the ethics of decision making. Number 289, November 2003.

The purpose of this Committee Opinion is to provide the obstetrician-gynecologist with an approach to decision making based on ethics in an environment of increased patient information, recognition of patient autonomy, direct-to-consumer marketing, and many alternative or investigational treatments. A process for ethical decision making in surgery is discussed, illustrated by an example of elective cesarean delivery.