The Hippocratic Oath

We affirm the dignity and sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.
However, the ‘consumerisation’ of dying is putting pressure on people in the medical professions to accept or even support voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, often against their values and beliefs.
Therefore, we call on professional bodies representing doctors and nurses to uphold the Hippocratic Oath, and defend the rights of their members to act according to their conscience on this issue without coercion.

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  Ralph Lee

  • 3 months ago

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  Perhaps we should propose a specifically biblical oath, drawing on your affirmation?

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  Jon Thompson

  • 6 months ago

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  Dear Jonathan,Great thesis. I'm very much in support of it! However, I might suggest one slight change. You encourage professional bodies to 'defend the rights of their members to act according to their conscience on this issue without coercion'. While conscience is vital, we may want to restrict both the right to conscience and the responsibility to defend that right to negative categories, such as 'conscientious refusal' and/or 'conscientious objection'. This is because some might claim a conscientious right to positive actions -- such as carrying out euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide. However, I believe the Christian view is that such actions are not protected by appeals to conscience.

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