THE NATURE OF PRO-LIFE ISSUES
1. Direct threats to human life include first of all abortion, which takes the lives of well over a million US children annually; embryonic stem cell harvesting; euthanasia; and cloning.  Additional threats to human life include poverty, capital punishment, racism, war, nuclear arms proliferation and exploitation.  Since each and every human being is unique and important, one's personhood or worth should not be arbitrarily determined by another's choice.  No one exists solely as a means to someone else's happiness.  The choices we make, as individuals and as a society, must be weighed in light of their impact on human life and dignity.  Do you acknowledge both the breadth of pro life issues, and the primacy of some of those issues, namely abortion, embryonic stem cell harvesting, euthanasia, and cloning? 

Absolutely.  I took my oath as a military officer and a civilian employee of the United States Government to protect and defend the United States Constitution.  We are guaranteed the right to life, liberty, and property by the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution, rights that are also stated in the second paragraph, first sentence, of the Declaration of Independence.   

ABORTION
2. Do you believe that a unique human life begins at conception? 

Yes.

3. The 14th Amendment states "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, 1973, stated that "if this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment." The Court regrettably concluded though that "we need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer." Do you believe that the State has a compelling interest in protecting human life beginning at conception?

Absolutely.  The duty of government, as stated in the second paragraph, first sentence, of the Declaration of Independence, is to safeguard our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.  As stated in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, our laws are to conform to the Laws of Nature (physics, biology, chemistry; i.e., reality) and the Laws of Nature’s God (Biblical morality).  In its Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court violated both of the preceding principles.

4. Is taking the life of a pre-born child through abortion ever morally permissible?  Check all that apply:

Per Bernard Nathanson, a famous obstetrician who changed from pro baby killing to pro-life, saving the life of the mother is a bogus issue.  He said that it is always safer for the mother to carry the infant to term or perform a Caesarian Section than it is to perform an abortion.

EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS AND CLONING
5. Do you oppose embryonic stem cell research or human cloning, whether publically or privately funded?

 Yes.  I am only supportive of adult stem cell research.  The body will not reject its own stem cells, but it frequently rejects cells from other people.  Thus adult stem cell research holds medical promise, but embryonic stem cell research is wasteful as well as being destructive of humans in their embryonic stage of development.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN ABORTION
6. Peer reviewed studies have shown that parental involvement laws reduce the occurrence of risky sex in teens, and more than 30 states currently have some form of them.  Either the teen refrains from engaging in sex or is more careful before having sex.  These laws help teen mothers and fathers get the support and guidance they need from parents in this important decision.  Not having them risks parental estrangement or alienation from the child when in the greatest need and denies the dignity of the family.  Minors already must have parental approval for even the most minor types of medical procedures or medications and should also for the complex procedure of abortion.   Without parental involvement, a minor impregnated by an adult often times is pressured into having an abortion so as to conceal the fact that the adult is guilty of statutory rape.  Will you promote/support parental involvement laws (with judicial override) for minors when seeking an abortion?

Absolutely!  Children belong to the parents, who are ultimately responsible to God for the children’s well-being.  Children do not belong to the state or the school.  Except for parents who are criminally derelict or abusive, parents should always be consulted when their minor child seeks an abortion.   

MEDICAL CONSCIENCE CLAUSES
7. "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?

Absolutely!  The purpose of government, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, is to protect each citizen’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.  We now have the reality of government actually compelling medical personnel to terminate life.  This is criminal on the part of the government, so certainly medical personnel should be allowed to refuse to participate in state-sanctioned murder of innocent people.

PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE
8. 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 in Washington State?

Absolutely! The Declaration of Independence states in paragraph 2 that government exists to guarantee us the right to life.  The Constitution further codifies this right to life in the fifth and fourteenth amendments.  Now certain subversive organizations are trying to change the right to life into “right to die,” eventually to change this into the “duty to die” if the ruling elite consider us to be a financial or political liability. 

MARRIAGE PRESERVATION
9.  Children develop best within the context of a biologically related family.  This is a scientifically proven fact which the Washington 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? 

 Sodomy is not a civil right; sodomy is a civil wrong

PUBLIC SCHOOL SEX EDUCATION
10. The Washington State Legislature in 2007 passed ESSB 5297 requiring school districts to teach "scientifically accurate" (aka comprehensive) sex education, if they teach sex ed at all. The typical comprehensive sex education program spends as little as 5% of the time teaching abstinence principles (Zogby 3/27/07), instead spending significantly more time teaching students how to put condoms on models of male genitalia and promoting alternative forms of sexual activity called outercourse, which may include showering together and mutual masturbation as effective ways to avoid pregnancy and disease. In contrast, an emphasis on abstinence means teaching students about building healthy relationships and bolstering self worth and self-control.  Given that ESSB 5297 allows school districts a wide range in how the law is applied, will you work to maximize sex education that is wholesome, not dehumanizing and truly safe?

Much of what purports to be “sex education” seems to be intended to break down the natural modesty of children, making “sex education” little more than “promiscuity indoctrination,” which I believe borders on the criminal.  Sex education should cover anatomy as part of an overall health education curriculum that covers other vital systems of the human body such as the skeletal system, nervous system, skin, cardio-vascular system, etc.  When the reproductive system is taught, the genders should be separated, and men should teach boys and women should teach girls.  Children also should be warned about how powerful sexual attraction is, how the entertainment and advertising media employ sexual attraction to manipulate people’s behavior, the physical and emotional harm that results from sexual promiscuity and experimentation, and the existence of well-financed special-interest pressure groups that have malevolent ulterior motives and that will encourage and affirm sexual experimentation.  Students also should be taught that boys and girls are different and have different and complementary strengths and weaknesses, and that marriage is between one man and one woman.  In addition, students should be taught the physical and emotional advantages for maintaining sexual purity until marriage and remaining sexually faithful to your husband or wife after marriage.

Ron Higgins, Candidate for Superintendent for Public Instruction.  The job of the educator is to assist parents in shepherding their children from childhood to adulthood.  If shepherds are doing their jobs, they will be very unpopular with the wolves.

DEATH PENALTY
11. The death penalty in the United States should:

Capital punishment should only be used as punishment for murder or treason.  Capital punishment is permitted by both the old and new Testaments (Genesis 9:5-6; Romans 13:4) and by the United States Constitution in the fifth amendment.

GAMING
12. 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?

 Gambling adds nothing to the economy and impoverishes those most vulnerable in society, so I am opposed to casinos.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMMENTS
13. Please state your qualifications for office such as professional, educational, family and community accomplishments.  You may also add any any further comments regarding the relationship of your candidacy to respect life issues.

 Certificated Teaching Experience

I am a certificated teacher with an endorsement in mathematics (Certificate No. 464273B).  I have been substitute teaching nearly every school day since I completed my student teaching in April 2010.  I am approved to substitute teach in six school districts (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland, Kiona-Benton City, Columbia Burbank, and Finley), and I have substituted in every grade from pre-school through high school, including bi-lingual and special education.  Among the subjects that I have taught are mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, and physical education.

I earned my commercial driver’s license with a school bus endorsement in 2010 and drove a school bus for the Pasco School District as a substitute school bus driver during the 2010-11 school year.

Other Teaching/Training/Examiner Experience

·         1989 - Chemistry lecturer and lab instructor at Scott Community College in Bettendorf, Iowa

·         1981-86 – Operator Licensing Examiner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; prepared, administered, and graded examinations as the final requirement for personnel prior to their license to operate a commercial nuclear power plant

·         1978-80 – Trainer of Certified Reactor Operators at N-Reactor at Hanford, Washington

·         1975-78 – Instructor at the Naval Reactors Facility; taught Naval personnel how to operate nuclear power plants for Navy ships

·         1972-74 - Training Office for Marine Corps Air Station (Helicopter), Tustin, California

·         1969 - Chemistry lab instructor at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California

Military

·         Lt. Colonel, US Marine Corps (Retired)

·         1985-86 – Officer-in-Charge, Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 49, Detachment E, Glenview Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois

·         1971-72 - Marine Corps helicopter pilot in Vietnam during the Vietnam War

·         Designated Naval Aviator

Community

·         Church liaison to the Tri-Cities Pregnancy Network

·         Speaker at the Union Gospel Mission in Pasco, Washington, once a month

·         Regular blood platelet donor for the Red Cross

Formal Education

·         Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1980

·         Masters of Science in Aeronautical Systems, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida, 1970

·         Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, 1969

Youth Activities

·         2012 – Mentor for the Youth Ignite mentoring program, Richland, Washington

·         2003-07 - Parent Patrol at Richland High School; as a volunteer, assisted the staff in monitoring student activities

·         1994-99 - Youth Soccer Referee, Richland, Washington

·         1994-98 - Bible Study Fellowship Children’s Leader, Richland, Washington

·         1992-96 - Sunday School Teacher for four-year old children at West Side Church, Richland, Washington

·         1997-2006 - Boy Scout Leader, Troop 248, Richland, Washington

·         1994-97 - Cub Scout Master, Pack 237, Richland, Washington

Personal

·         Married to wife Deborah for 28 years; two children, one son and one daughter

·         Both children graduated from Richland High School and earned their Associate of Arts degree from Columbia Basin College via the Running Start program

·         Son was injured and broke his back one month after graduation from high school; he is paraplegic and confined to a wheel chair.  Despite his injury, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gonzaga University and works in Labor Relations for CH2M Hill at Hanford, Washington.

·         Daughter graduated from Walla Walla University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and is currently attending graduate school at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

·         My heritage of public school teachers:

o       My sister is a retired California public school teacher.

o       My brother-in-law, my sister’s husband, is a retired California public school teacher.

o       My niece, my sister’s daughter, is a California public school teacher.

o       My mother was a public school teacher in Missouri, New Jersey, and California.

o       My aunt, my mother’s sister, was a public school teacher in Missouri.

o       My mother’s aunt was a public school teacher in Missouri.

o       My father’s aunt was a public school teacher in Missouri.

14. Do you have a campaign website?  What is the address?

 Higgins-spi-2012.com

WEBSITE POSTING PERMISSION
15. May LIFE PAC post your survey response on its website?

 Absolutely!

Dare to be a Daniel,

Dare to stand alone!

Dare to have a purpose firm!

Dare to make it known.

Ron Higgins

Candidate for Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Education: Connecting with the Past, Protecting the Present, Preparing for the Future.

Matthew 18:1-7