Group says Hippocratic oath forbids abortion
Posted: October 4, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A national physician's group has approved a pro-life resolution at its annual meeting, stating the doctors' Hippocratic oath does not allow them to perform abortions.
The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, at its 60th annual meeting in Point Clear, Ala., last month, adopted a platform that "clearly opposes" the procedure and recognizes the "teachings of the major religions of the world have [also] opposed abortion of a developing human child until very recent times."
"Even if religion is removed from the issue of abortion of a human child, without life as the ultimate ethic, no objective ethical standard remains," said the resolution.
The Tucson, Ariz.-based physician's group says it is "dedicated to the highest ethical standards of the Oath of Hippocrates and to preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine." The group's motto is "omnia pro aegroto," which means "all for the patient."
The oath, which is still taken by today's physicians, was written by Greek physician Hippocrates. He became known as the founder of modern medicine and was regarded as the greatest physician of his time. He believed the body must be treated as a whole, not just a series of individual parts or systems.
"The purpose of abortion of a human child is to destroy the life of the child, in contradistinction to other terminations of pregnancy to save the life of the mother, in which an attempt would also be made to save the life of the child," says the AAPS resolution.
"Be it resolved the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons supports
the right to life of human beings from the moment of conception to natural
death," the resolution
concludes.
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