Hippocratic Oath and Euthanasia

The Hippocratic Oath, written by Hippocrates, was composed with the intent of maintaining high ethical standards in the medical field. The original text is still used by modern doctors, exemplifying its significance to contemporary as well as ancient medicine. In this document, Hippocrates touches on many of the same issues that doctors face today. Euthanasia, one of the topics presented in the oath, is the most crucial to present-day society and the medical field that …

…it, still exists. Prospectively, this existence presents a great threat to the populous abroad. If we permit the mercy killing of terminally ill patients, the Hippocratic Oath loses its time-honored significance regarding euthanasia. The forecasted result: the obliteration of any reference to euthanasia from the great oath. While this seems harmless enough, the results could be devastating. Without the ban, euthanasia could quickly spread to the point where doctors begin assisting people without fatal afflictions.