From: 8800529@hydra.maths.unsw.EDU.AU ()
Subject: Re:  REQUEST:  Hippocratic Oath in Greek
Keywords: Hippocrates, Asklepios, Hygiene
Organization: school of Mathematics UNSW
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 03:39:24 GMT

In article <Oct05.221106.99293@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> cc433336@LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Constantinos A. Caroutas) writes:
>In article <BvMt7y.100@cs.columbia.edu>, ji@cs.columbia.edu
>(John Ioannidis) writes:
>>In article <1992Oct4.101541.28350@usage.csd.unsw.OZ.AU> 8800529@hydra.maths.unsw.EDU.AU () writes:
>>>>
>>>>Ou dwsw de oude farmakon oudeni aith8eis 8avasimon oude ufhfhsomai
>>>>3umboulihn toihnde. Omoiws de oude gunaiki pesson f8orion dwsw.
>>>>Agnws de kai osiws diathrhsw bion emon kai texnhn emhn.
>>>>
>>>>(I will never give a deadly medicine, even if I asked to,
>>>>neither will I give advice for such a medicine.
>>>>Similarly, I will never give an abortive medicine to a woman.
>>>>I will keep my life and art pure and holy.)
>>>
>>>	Of the whole oath the above impressed me most. They seem timeless
>>>and very applicable for today !!!
>>
>>Please keep your reactionary politics to yourself. It's bad enough
>>that we have the bible-thumpers trying to impose on us their
>>(mis)interpretation of a book written in a totally different world
>>to today's realities. What's next, neo-pythagoreans trying to ban
>>computers for profaning integer numbers?

	I never meant to express an opinion on abortion and even if I
did who gave the permission to this person to police my opinion. I was
just impressed by th fact that even a few hundred years ago doctors
practiced witchcraft were as Hipocrates seemed to be more of a doctor.
He was the first to my knowledge to use sterilisation and he also invented 
the aspirin.

>
>If a doctor performed an abortion to a woman against her will (say,
>because her boyfriend paid the doctor to do so so that the boyfriend
>avoids a possible paternity suit) wouldn't the doctor be guilty of
>murder? Perhaps abortion should be legal to women who want it (after
>all the "misinterpreted" book says that sin punishment is wrong), but
>do we have to label it morally correct because of "today's realities"?
>
>I find no problem in terminating pregnancies that are the result of
>an act of hate (rape), or when the unborn has a serious defect. Even
>our church calls those abortions "necessary evils". And, there is no
>question about therapeutic abortions.
>
>In all other cases, we have people hating the result of an act of love.
>Is that right?
>
>By the way, I said "perhaps abortion should be legal" earlier because
>while the punishment of a sin is wrong, the society has the right to
>defend its members. The question the society faces is whether to include
>the unborn to its members. I'm not sure if it should. For sure, the
>society must teach its members not to hate...

	I don't have a rigid position on abortion. It seems like an
important subject in the US that can affect the elections.
	Their are a few diffrent cases in pregnancy that could be debated.

	Case one should abortions be a casual thing, along side family planing ?
ie. a girl forgot to take the pill. I think there is a price to pay for every
mistake. And the goverement should take part of the blame in lacking
education. The goverment should support the future mother and when the baby is 
born it could go for an adoption.

	Case two the pregnancy was a forced one. Well in this case it's is not
the fault of the girl but still it's debatable wether the pregnancy should
be terminated. Should the baby be killed (a "live" baby at that stage is also
debatable) Well in the case of a car acceident the hurt might not be at all 
responsible. They still pay the price. Society has few mechanisms of repaying
people that had bad luck. The person in the accident is killed, how to
you compendsate even if it was not his fault ? In the case of the girl
it was not here fault but should you kill the baby ? I think the whole
question lies in how significant is the life of a baby before it's born.




>--
>Constantinos A. Caroutas
>
>"It's easy to make mistakes when others will be held responsible."

	George