Hippocratic Oath required pledge not to perform abortions

Image of Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.)
Prior to the ancient Greek philosophy,
it was common for physicians,
to use their knowledge to kill for money.
The Hippocratic oath was an effort,
to change the image of the profession.

Since the days of ancient Greece physicians were required to take an oath, therefore promising to do no harm, including a pledge not to perform abortions.  Since about 400 years before the birth of Christ this has been known as the Hippocratic Oath.

However, beginning in the 1960s, rather than face the issue, most medical-schools dropped the requirement that graduates site the pledge.

Just think, an oath that lasted through all the trials and trivializations of 2,500 years of history was ended over the abortion issue.

Today the pledge is voluntary, and the part about not doing abortion is not a part of it.  Sad.

Reference:

1. Paul, Ron, "Liberty Defined," 2011,