PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE
7. Washington State Initiative 1000 which was passed in 2008, legalized Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) by allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of barbiturates to certain patients. One objection to this sanctioning of suicide is that some vulnerable persons, such as those who are feeble, depressed, mentally ill, or handicapped, will likely experience coercion to end their lives. For them a right to die, already protected in the Natural Death Act, (RCW 70.122), may become a duty to die. The American Medical Association (policy H-140.952) as well as the Washington State Medical Association (2007 Resolution A-7) oppose PAS. The AMA states that "physician assisted suicide is fundamentally inconsistent with the physician's professional role." The initiative uses vague language that enable doctors "acting in good faith" to assist mentally ill or depressed patients to commit suicide, while protecting doctors from civil and criminal lawsuits. Health care insurers can cut costs by providing prescriptions for suicide. Will society's sanction of suicide have unintended consequences? Sponsor and former governor Booth Gardner says that this is only a “first step” in legalizing assisted suicide for anyone who wants it. When society fails to protect vulnerable people in their troubles, but instead offers them the violence of suicide, has not society abandoned them? Do you oppose the availability of physician assisted suicide?

MARRIAGE PRESERVATION
8. Children develop best within the context of a biologically related family. This is a scientifically proven fact which theWashington State Supreme Court referenced when in 2006, it ruled on the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The court determined that the state's limitation of marriage to heterosexual couples "is constitutional because the legislature was entitled to believe that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers ... the well-being of children by encouraging families where children are reared in homes headed by the children’s biological parents." In concurrence, Justice James Johnson wrote "The unique and binary biological nature of marriage and its exclusive link with procreation and responsible child rearing has defined the institution [of marriage in law]." In order to affirm and protect children’s rights and the primacy of those rights over adults’ aspirations for novel family forms, do you oppose laws that change the definition of marriage to include homosexual and polygamous relationships?

MEDICAL CONSCIENCE CLAUSES
9. "The trend toward accepting the termination of some human lives as a normal part of medicine is accelerating ... Courts, policymakers, media leaders - even the elites of organized medicine - increasingly assert that patient rights and respect for patients’ choices should trump the consciences of medical professionals. Indeed, the time may soon arrive when doctors, nurses, and pharmacists will be compelled to take, or be complicit in the taking of, human life, regardless of their strong religious or moral objections thereto." (Westlie J. Smith, 2009).Should doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals be granted the right to refuse participation in the provision of medical services that violate the person's moral, ethical or religious beliefs? 

PUBLIC LIBRARY PORNOGRAPHY
10. In the US Supreme Court ruling United States v. American Library Association, Inc, 2003, which upheld the use of library internet pornography filters, Chief Justice Rehnquist stated for the plurality that "to fulfill their traditional missions, public libraries must have broad discretion to decide what material to provide to their patrons.  Although they seek to provide a wide array of information, their goal has never been to provide 'universal coverage,'" and "most libraries already exclude pornography from their print collections because they deem it inappropriate for inclusion."   Will you as a commissioner appoint and confirm only library board candidates who oppose the inclusion of pornography in public libraries, whether by internet or print materials?

REGULATION OF SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES
11. The U.S. Supreme Court in Young v. American Mini Theaters, Inc., (1976) and Renton v. Playtime Theater, Inc., (1986), concluded that municipalities have "substantial governmental interests" in protecting and preserving the quality of life for its community against the adverse secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses while allowing for "reasonable alternative avenues of communication."  Land Use Studies from cities around the United States were cited in both U.S. Supreme Court cases documenting the harmful secondary effects including 1. Increased Crime - rape, sexual assault, prostitution and illegal drug sales; 2. Decreased Property Values - both residential and commercial; and 3. Urban Blight - people and businesses fleeing the community. Will you support municipalities that diligently seek and maintain zoning ordinances, licensing procedures, permit requirements and operational regulations which serve to minimize the adverse secondary effects of Sexually Oriented Businesses?   

PLANNED PARENTHOOD
13. Should Clark County partner in any way with the nation's biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, who received annually over $350 million dollars in governmental grants and contracts in recent years, and aborted nearly 305,000 babies?  Should they be contracted with to make community presentations, provide literature, birth control chemicals or devises, and/or abortion services?


GAMING
14. A proposed casino off I-5 near Ridgefield is projected to be one of the largest in the nation.  What is your position on the building of this casino?  Place an "X" on the line below:

WEBSITE POSTING PERMISSION
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