Life Issues / Family Ethics Political Action Committee of Southwest Washington

2020 Federal 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. You can also email us for a phone or in person interview, and if agreeable, LifePac will write an interview report for posting.  Survey responses will be authenticated before use.  Please use your Election Department registered email account for correspondence.

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.  Every person's life must be respected.  One's personhood or worth must not be determined by another's arbitrary 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? 
 

If not, when?   ___ 3 mths    ___ 6 mths

___ At Birth    ___ 1 yr   ___18 yrs?

 

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

 

CONSTITUTION
 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?

   

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN ABORTION
 Peer reviewed studies have shown that parental involvement laws reduce the occurrence of risky sex in teens, and 37 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).  Will you promote/support parental involvement laws (with judicial override) for minors when seeking an abortion?

 

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's long held and continuing position is 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 that states must recognize same sex marriage nationwide?

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 

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?

 

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
 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 Legalizing Marijuana (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, 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:

 

COVID-19 SHUTDOWNS
Using a pro life standard of protecting life and minimizing harm, do you believe the sustained shutdown ordered by Washington Governor Inslee achieves that goal?

_____Yes, Covid deaths are reduced with lower infection rates.  The negative impacts on society (suicides, delayed medical treatment deaths, job loss and family stress, no school) are of less significance.

_____No, the negative impacts on society (suicides, delayed medical treatment deaths, job loss and family stress, no school) are of greater significance than additional Covid deaths due to shorter or no shutdowns.

_____Not Sure

_____Other Opinion:

 

 

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 LifePac post your survey response on its website?  Surveys are posted only with your permission.