???Therapeutic nihilism is the belief that a cure for a given medical condition is impossible. It is one of the "twin traps" outlined in the Hippocratic Oath doctors take before they are given their license.
???For a doctor to deny a certain treatment or procedure to a patient based on that doctor's personal beliefs is a direct violation of the Hippocratic Oath.
???President Bush, however, seems ignorant of this fact. The current administration has made public a proposed regulation that will ensure that no health care organization receiving federal money supports "morally coercive or discriminatory practices in violation of federal law."
???In essence, this regulation will allow doctors to practice medical science at their personal discretion. It will sacrifice one person's personal belief in their right to an abortion, among other controversial medical procedures, for another's personal morality.
Moral responsibility extends to behavior influenced by a doctor. A person denied an abortion by a doctor will seek out an abortion elsewhere, possibly at great risk.
???The Hippocratic Oath states that a doctor will "respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share that knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow." This means that doctors must respect and practice the height of medical science, and also that they are part of a medical community of which they are representatives.
???In other words, this means that being a doctor means being an avatar of modern medical science. There is no such thing as a moral doctor, theoretically, because a doctor is simply a conduit for a science as old as humanity.
???Medical science has rendered abortion a relatively safe procedure, albeit one with potential emotional gravity.
???While many doctors choose not to perform abortions, sticking one's head in the sand and pretending that the procedure doesn't exist does nothing for both patient and practitioner.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
