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2017 State Questionnaire
Candidates:
Copy and paste the survey questions below into your word processor, type your
answers and send to
vote4life@lifepac.org. You
can answer either all of the questions or choose from among them, or you can
compose your own statement using some of the survey's themes. Responses will be authenticated
before use.
THE NATURE OF PRO-LIFE ISSUES
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, important
and to be valued, 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
Do you believe that a unique human life begins at conception?
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If not, when? ___ 3 mths ___ 6 mths
___ At Birth ___ 1 yr ___18 yrs? |
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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?
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
Harvesting stem cells during the early development of a child in the womb
results in the child's death, making the procedure morally unacceptable. The
potential for abuse in allowing human cloning is great.
This includes the killing and harvesting of individuals in the early
stages of life, and the assault on the dignity of those kept to birth.
Do you oppose
embryonic stem cell
research
or human cloning, whether
publicly or privately funded?
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN ABORTION
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?
MEDICAL
CONSCIENCE CLAUSES
"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?
PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE
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. An
objection to this sanctioning of suicide is that vulnerable
persons, such as those who are feeble, depressed, mentally ill, or
handicapped, may 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 AMA has stated that "physician
assisted suicide is fundamentally inconsistent with the physician's
professional role." The initiative uses vague language that
enables 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
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?
_____ Support
_____ Oppose
_____ No Opinion
_____ Other:
PUBLIC SCHOOL SEX EDUCATION
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, will you work to maximize sex education that is wholesome, not
dehumanizing and is truly safe?
DEATH PENALTY
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
Recreational marijuana was
legalized in Washington State in 2012 by
Initiative 502. The drug though is still
banned federally, and considered dangerous by many, including
the FDA,
the AMA, and
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
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. For an extensive report by the
National Academy of Sciences (Jan 2017)
see here.
What is your
position on the legal production, processing and sale of
recreational marijuana in
the jurisdiction of the office you are seeking?
_____ Support
_____ Oppose
_____ No Opinion
_____ Other:
QUALIFICATIONS AND COMMENTS
What office (district and position) are you running for?
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.
Do you have a campaign website? What is the
address?
WEBSITE POSTING PERMISSION
May Life PAC post your survey response on its website?
We will not publicize without your permission.
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