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12th November 2014
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
The Hippocratic Oath written in the 5th century BC in ancient Greece was an oath historically taken by all healthcare practitioners swearing to practice medicine honestly. This oath was meant to encourage integrity among doctors, and ensure the minimization of negative effects their work might have on people. In essence, such an oath would advance moral and ethical thinking and ensure safety of the patient.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, the oath to uphold the ethical standards is taken rather lightly, if taken at all. It has been estimated that only 50% of the British physicians and other healthcare professionals are taking the Hippocratic Oath. Deviation from this ancient tradition in the medical profession has cost countless lives.[1]
But medical negligence or medical error is still a lesser crime than a deliberate violation of the moral, ethical and professional code. A good example of this can be seen in England, where a recent 19 month undercover investigation led by the London Telegraph newspaper has exposed two doctors who agreed to arrange illegal abortions based on the sex of an unborn baby. “The two doctors were filmed agreeing to arrange terminations for women who requested them purely because they said they did not want to have a baby girl.”[2]
Obviously, it would be one thing to decide to abort the unborn child based on the solid medical examinations confirming high risk for the baby to be born with defects causing lifetime suffering for both parents and a child, and it is another thing to terminate the pregnancy and consequently the life of the unborn but healthy child just because of an unwanted gender.
“What is the doctor to do who is offered a bribe for harming his patient? His two arts each make rigorous and contradictory claims upon him, and there is no evident principle for choosing which should be preferred’’ – reasoned Socrates inPlato’s Republic.
One would think that the voice of one’s conscience would be enough of an evident principle and a basis for action. But apparently, for the ruling elite morality has another meaning.
Previous articles by Sergey:
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