From time to time, we hear from the prolifers that we need to get back to the Hippocratic oath: "First, do no harm." That never appears anywhere in any accepted version of the oath. Or, "I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion." OK fine, if you're going to play that game, let's set aside for the moment just how frequently doctors tend to overlook their women patients' needs when it comes to childbirth, whether that be the desire to have no C-section except as a last resort, or particular accommodations for the newborn, or pushing mothers out of hospitals before they may be ready, etc. No, if we really want to "get back to the Hippocratic oath," then we should go back to the first line of the original oath:
"I swear by Apollo the Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture."
No Jesus. No Jehova Rapha (God the healer). Nope, we're going old school, all the way back to the Greek gods.
So, prolifers, if you still want to make the Hippocratic oath as a part of your arsenal, the very least you could do is actually read it first and not insert your Jesus into something that never had it in the first place.
