EUTHANASIA: FACTS AND FICTION

The Hippocratic Oath
Hippocrates, the Greek physician, summed up the doctor's duty in the so-called Hippocratic oath. In this oath the benefit of the patient is the central theme. Killing, either before or after birth, with or without the patient's request, is strictly rejected.

Following the second world war, when doctors, on Hitler's orders, performed euthanasia on over 100,000 German psychiatric patients (as well as mutilating and lethal experiments on human beings), the World Medical Association, in order to prevent recurrence, decided to rephrase the Hippocratic Oath in modern language, the so-called Geneva Declaration, which ends as follows:

"I will maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of conception; even under threat; I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity; I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour."