Wednesday, 18 January 2006
Dr. Death?
Does anyone know where the following passage was taken?
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.
It might surprise some to know it comes from the Hippocratic Oath. An oath that many doctors have sworn to uphold. It is an important part of the oath. The part that ensures us ordinary citizens that doctors are only concerned with saving life and not ending it.
But there are some in Kentucky who want to legalize doctor assisted suicide. These people were happy to see the Supreme Court uphold the Oregon law allowing for Doctor assisted suicide and hope the law makes it way to Kentucky. Personally, I find this line of thought very chilling.
Not only would we be allowing life giving doctors the ability to kill, we would be crossing a moral line. We wold be allowing those who we trust to heal the ability to deal death. Could that lead down the road to forced euthanasia? I personally don't want to find out where that road would lead.
