Many opponents claim that it is medically wrong and retrograde. In places where medical assistance in dying is legal, doctors have the choice of whether to participate in the programs and provide life-ending medications. Some doctors refuse to do so, such as Dr. Kenneth Stevens, an opponent of medical assistance in dying. He talks about the reasons that justify his position as a doctor regarding a cancer patient who requests medical assistance in dying: “I didn't get into medicine to kill people. When a doctor writes a prescription, a prescription is a written order. If he writes a prescription for lethal drugs, he writes a prescription to kill the person. (Stevens, ref. Daily Signal, 2) This is a concern shared by many doctors and opponents. Some cite the Hippocratic Oath, a traditional code used by doctors, which includes this passage in its modern updated version: “Above all, I must exercise caution in matters of life and death. If I can save a life, thank you. But it is perhaps also in my power to take a life; This formidable responsibility must be faced with great humility and with awareness of my own fragility. Above all, I must not play God. (Hippocratic Oath, Ref. Tyson, 1) Although this may seem quite explicit, as proponents of physician-assisted dying point out, the Hippocratic Oath does not have as much medical significance today , and not all versions prohibit medical assistance in dying either.