The Indian Medical Association (IMA) called for a nationwide strike on June 25, 2012 to protest against the formation of the National Council for Human Resources in Health and the promulgation of the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 The strike call raises two issues that need to be examined in detail: whether the opposition to the government legislation is justified from a professional and societal point of view, and whether it is ethically justifiable for doctors to go on strike.