" To Cause No Harm"

Today I was going to write about gun control, but I am putting that off for a day. What is a crime? Crime has degrees of severity; 1st degree, 2nd degree and misdemeanor, among other things such as city ordinances and minor traffic offenses. Some crimes are more heinous than others; murder, rape, armed assault with intent to cause bodily harm, molesting (at any age); this list is long and disturbing. My Dad said when I was young "Don't ever make me come to pick you up from jail!" Honesty was important to my Dad; it spoke to your character and upbringing. Being of Italian heritage, I've heard the name "MAFIA" on many occasions; sometimes I laugh it off, sometimes I take offense to it. No group, neither racial, ethnic nor of national origin can be grouped into an inherent predisposition for being criminals. No legal vocation is more crime prone than others. Some professions are looked upon as being prestigious; the most respected always seems to be doctors. Doctors take an oath, the Hippocratic Oath; that promises to heal and protect lives, and to cause no harm. I remember my Mom saying how wonderful it would be to have a doctor in the family; this was almost as good as being a priest. Doctors were "men of honor and respect". They had high character and morals.

Today, I read about a man who traded honor and respect for cash. In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia District Attorney accused Dr. Kermitt Gosnell of the murder of seven babies. It is alleged that Dr. Gosnell performed partial birth abortions while unlicensed to do so, and snipped the spinal cords of fully delivered, breathing, living infants. Dr. Gosnell is licensed for "general practice"; this means his abortions were all illegal. It seems that Dr. Gosnell was using his position as a doctor in a poor area as a cash cow, trading on a desperate situation to inflate his bank account. Dr. Gosnell destroyed many of his records prior to his arrest, so we may never know the gravity of his crimes. It is alleged that the doctor made millions of dollars over the course of his years of "infanticide". The doctor is now sixty-nine years old; he has been a "healer" for many years. I wonder how the doctor's Alma mater is feeling about him today! He has certainly gravely smeared the medical profession. If these allegations prove to be true, it would make this doctor a murderer on the level of a NAZI war criminal.

Life is precious; a doctor is supposed to be a guardian of life. Callous disregard for life by one who is pledged to "do no harm" is unconscionable. I don't know if there is a death penalty in Pennsylvania, but if there is, I certainly hope the district attorney is considering its use in this case. I wonder what Hippocrates would say?