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2016 Federal
Questionnaire
Candidates: Copy and paste the survey questions
below into your word processor, type your answers and send to
vote4life@lifepac.org,
or print and send to LIFE PAC, PO Box 871103, Vancouver, WA
98687-1103. Alternatively, you can freely compose your own
statement for posting using some of the survey's themes.
Responses will be authenticated before use.
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?
ABORTION
2. Do you believe that a unique human life begins at conception?
If not, when? ___ 3 mths ___ 6 mths
___ At Birth ___ 1
yr ___18 yrs?
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?
4. Is taking the life of a pre-born child through abortion ever
morally permissible? Check all that apply:
_____ No, it's never permissible
_____ Yes, to save mother's life
_____ Yes, in cases of rape or incest
_____ Yes, for physical deformity
_____ Yes, for gender
_____ Yes, for race
_____ Yes, to punish spouse
_____ Yes, it's always permissible
EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS
AND CLONING
5. Do you oppose embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, whether
publically or privately funded?
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.
A 2013 poll commissioned by Human Life WA, found Washington
State voters are widely supportive of laws requiring "parental involvement"
in abortion decisions for girls under the age of 18 (62-29% with just under
10% undecided).
Read a summary of the results here.
Will
you promote/support parental involvement laws (with judicial override) for
minors when seeking an abortion?
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?
What is your position on physician assisted suicide?
_____ Support
_____ Oppose
_____ No Opinion
_____ Other:
MARRIAGE PRESERVATION
8. In June of 2015,
the US Supreme Court ruled that states must recognize same sex
marriage nationwide.
Opponents claim that this puts the aspirations of adults over the
rights of children, who develop best within the context of a
biologically related family. This optimal development 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."
What is your position on the 2015 US Supreme Court
ruling that states must recognize same sex marriage nationwide?
_____ Support
_____ Oppose
_____ No Opinion
_____ Other:
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?
DEATH PENALTY
10. The death penalty in the United States should:
_____ Not be used
_____ Be used about the same
_____ Be used less
_____ Be used more
_____ Other:
REGULATION OF RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA
AND PARAPHERNALIA
11 . Recreational marijuana was legalized in Washington State
in 2012 by
Initiative 502. The drug though is considered dangerous by many, including
the FDA,
the AMA, and
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The White House Office
of National Drug Policy
opposes the legalization of the drug for public health reasons. Citizens
against Marijuana Legalization (CALM) states "The normalization,
expanded use, and increased availability of marijuana in our communities
are detrimental to our youth, to public health, and to the safety of
our society." The Alaska Association of Police Chief
describe some of the negative aspects of legalizing the drug here. For
additional dangers see
here and
here. What is your
position on the legal production, processing and sale of
recreational marijuana in
Washington State?
_____ Support
_____ Oppose
_____ No Opinion
_____ Other:
PUBLIC SCHOOL SEX EDUCATION
12.
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
and
Heritage Foundation), 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, do you support sex education that is wholesome, not
dehumanizing and is truly safe?
QUALIFICATIONS AND COMMENTS
13. What office
(district and position) are you running for?
14. 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.
15. Do you have a campaign website? What is the
address?
WEBSITE POSTING PERMISSION
16. May Life PAC post
your survey response on its website?
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