Resolution passed by the Assembly - Affirming the Sanctity of Human Life
60th Annual Meeting
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
Point Clear, Alabama, September 17-19, 2003

WHEREAS: the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons stands on the principles of the Hippocratic Oath, which oath clearly opposes abortion of a developing human child;

WHEREAS: teachings of the major religions of the world have opposed abortion of a developing human child until very recent times;

WHEREAS: even if religion is removed from the issue of abortion of a human child, without life as the ultimate ethic, no objective ethical standard remains;

WHEREAS: the unborn child in the womb meets the definition of human being, and people's choices are limited by government when those choices would harm another human being;

WHEREAS: the purpose of abortion of a human child is to destroy the life of the child, in contradistinction to other terminations of pregnancy to save the life of the mother, in which an attempt would also made to save the life of the child;

WHEREAS: our society will not permit a woman to terminate the life of her unwanted child after birth, despite its total dependence, even in the privacy of her own home in consultation with her physician; and

WHEREAS: the public's right to know and to make an informed decision about abortion of a human child has never been made possible by the opportunity to view various methods of abortion at different stages of gestation;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons supports the right to life of human beings from the moment of conception to natural death.