AAPLOG CEO Dr. Christina Francis spoke on “The Rise and Fall of the Hippocratic Oath,” in which she detailed the history of the Hippocratic Oath as it became the binding statement of ethics for physicians for thousands of years until a few decades ago, when its values began to be slowly eroded and replaced by a more subjectivist and utilitarian philosophy in which the physician’s ultimate duty is seen to be to fulfill the individual desires of his or her patients.
Of this new, harmful worldview, Dr. Francis said,
All of these outside forces have changed the purpose of medicine – we are supposed to be focused on saving lives, promoting health and relieving pain (especially in the times when we cannot save our patient’s life or health). Instead, we have become providers – here to give our patients what they ask for – like lethal drugs, elective induced abortions or other unnecessary and even harmful surgeries or interventions.
Dr. Susan Bane, Vice Chair of AAPLOG’s Board of Directors, gave a lecture on the ways in which the medical profession has gone astray in its promotion of induced abortion, and suggests ways it can return to its true purpose.
Also speaking at the conference was former board member and longtime AAPLOG member Dr. Byron Calhoun, who taught an intensive on ectopic pregnancy, and member Dr. Sandy Christiansen, who was featured in a medical roundtable. In addition, member Dr. Karen Poehailos offered a talk titled “Beyond the Negative Pregnancy Test: Bringing Fertility Awareness to Your Pregnancy Medical Clinic.” We were also happy to meet several more members at the NIFLA summit as attendees and exhibitors.
NIFLA offers legal counsel, advocacy, and training to pregnancy resource centers. It represents 1,700 pregnancy centers around the country, 1,200 of which are licensed medical clinics. We were heartened to see the support and encouragement offered by experts in many fields at this conference and hope to continue to fight alongside the pregnancy help movement as they offer their lifesaving services to vulnerable women, babies, and families across the country.
