2014 Survey Response:   Candidate: Michael Delavar Contact info: www.michaeldelavar.com www.facebook.com/michaeldelavarcampaign www.twitter.com/michaeldelavar elect@michaeldelavar.com (360) 771-4859 PO Box 1255 Washougal, WA 98671 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?  Michael Delavar: Yes.  We are created in God’s image.  In light of this, we must protect the individual’s right to life, liberty and property.     ABORTION 2. Do you believe that a unique human life begins at conception?  Michael Delavar: Yes, at conception. 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? Michael Delavar: Yes, and specifically the states should have that authority. 4. Is taking the life of a pre-born child through abortion ever morally permissible?  Michael Delavar: No.  However, we must also reconcile 1 Samuel 15:3.  Biblical morality is often taken as the appropriate basis for defense of life.  In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul is told by God to kill the Amalekites including “men and women, children and infants.”  At the very least, if ever there is a case in which abortion is morally permissible, it must be through a condemnation under the law which acknowledges that it is a taking of a life. EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS AND CLONING 5. Do you oppose embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, whether publically or privately funded? Michael Delavar: Yes.  However, I cannot exceed my oath to support the Constitution.  Unless Congress has the specific authority to make laws about this, the states have the final authority over it.     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? Michael Delavar: This is a state issue.     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 physician assisted suicide? Michael Delavar: This is a state issue. MARRIAGE PRESERVATION 8.  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?  Michael Delavar: I oppose attempts at the federal level to regulate or change the definition of marriage. The federal government has no authority to regulate marriage.  In fact, marriage predates the state.     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? Michael Delavar: Yes, and this is a state issue. DEATH PENALTY 10. The death penalty in the United States should: Michael Delavar: The death penalty in the United States should be used as determined by each state.  There should be no cruel or unusual punishment (such as torture). GAMING 11. 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?  The latest news can be found here on the Citizens Against Reservation Shopping blog. Michael Delavar: The history of the United States’ relationship with Native Americans is long and sad.  How often have we heard of the United States violating its treaty obligations with the Native Americans?  While I disagree completely with the creation of the largest casino in the nation, I believe we must view the transaction in light of whether this is allowed under existing treaty obligations.  If we need to renegotiate treaties, then that should be done openly without a hidden agenda.  We must honorably follow our treaty obligations.  If, however, the proposed casino is not guaranteed via treaty obligation or federal law, then I am opposed to “reservation shopping” for the purpose of creating a casino. QUALIFICATIONS AND COMMENTS 12. Please state your qualifications for office such as professional, educational, family and community accomplishments.  You may also add any further comments regarding the relationship of your candidacy to respect life issues.  Michael Delavar: In my opinion, the best qualifications a federal candidate may have are those that best enable them to remain true to their oath to support and defend the Constitution.  That means the candidate must be beholden to no one except the People.  That means that the candidate must put the defense of the constituents’ life, liberty, and property above personal considerations.  While elected to the City Council of Washougal, I demonstrated exactly that single-minded focus on the primary function of government.  It is to protect life, liberty, and property.  I was homeschooled, and even marched for life in Olympia on the ten year anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  Since then, I have been a strong, outspoken proponent of the defense of life. 13. Do you have a campaign website?  What is the address? Michael Delavar: www.michaeldelavar.com www.facebook.com/michaeldelavarcampaign elect@michaeldelavar.com (360) 771-4859 WEBSITE POSTING PERMISSION 14. May Life Pac post your survey response on its website? Michael Delavar: Yes!