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2012 State Questionnaire
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?
Yes. Every life glorifies God.
ABORTION
2. Do you believe that a unique
human life begins at conception?
Yes. It is written that life is in the
blood. If blood is present, life is
present and must be preserved.
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?
Yes. I have written in opposition to Roe
v. Wade for decades. A compelling state
interest uses substantive due process as a
matrix to make this determination, and may not
be applicable to today’s court.
Abortion is a moral abomination at any level.
The holocaust of abortion that has been seeded
in this country has brought us to judgment, and
will yield a harvest of poverty and collapse.
4. Is taking the life of a pre-born child
through abortion ever morally permissible?
Check all that apply:
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__x__
No, it's never permissible
_____ Yes, to save mother's life
_____ Yes, in cases of rape or incest
____ Yes, for physical deformity
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_____ Yes, for gender
_____ Yes, for race
_____ Yes, to punish spouse
_____ Yes, it's always permissible
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EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS AND CLONING
5. Do
you oppose embryonic stem cell research or human
cloning, whether publically or privately funded?
Yes, I am opposed to embryonic stem cell
research and human cloning. Embryonic stem
cell research is a ploy to gain tax dollars to
purchase the remains of aborted children for
research. This should be criminalized.
Human cloning is an experiment with apocalyptic
implications. This too should be
criminalized.
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?
Yes. A parent has a vital interest in the
life of their grandchild, and the well being of
their child. In addition, parents need to
be informed if their child has been the victim
of statutory rape, and counselors should be
required to inform both the parents and law
enforcement of perpetrators.
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?
Yes. In additional, hospitals, medical
facilities, and pharmacies should also have
statutory guarantees that they can assert a
right of conscience in refusing to provide
medical services or pharmaceuticals which
violate their conscience.
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. An 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?
Yes,
I am completely opposed to assisted suicide.
I will work with the state legislature and
governor to overturn this law.
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?
Yes, I do. Marriage is only between one
man and one woman. I further support the
right of every child to a father and mother, and
the right of each father and mother to the care,
custody, companionship and control of their
child.
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?
I will work to prevent the teaching of sex
education that violates the conscience of
parents who have entrusted their children to the
public school system.
DEATH PENALTY
11. The death penalty in the United States
should:
The death penalty is not a federal issue, as
some states provide for the death penalty and
some do not.
Washington
is a death penalty state, and I support the use of
the death penalty for cases of multiple
homicides and the killing of law enforcement.
There may be other cases of homicide, where the
facts are egregious and a lawful confession is
present.
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_____ not be used
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_____ be
used about the same
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_____ be
used less
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_____ be
used more
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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?
The construction of casinos owned by tribal
interests is an issue governed by the BIA over
which the state has little control.
Gambling casinos profit on the losses many time
from those with the least ability to afford such
losses. In the event that the county or
state cannot restrict such construction, I favor
threshold entry requirements that will prevent
people who have nothing from losing what little
that remains.
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.
I am a practicing attorney in
Everett,
Washington. I have
appeared at the U.S. Supreme Court fighting on
behalf of petition signers to keep their names
private; I appeared in the 2nd
Circuit Court of Appeals fighting on behalf of
the rejected Chrysler dealers; I have appeared
in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
fighting against corruption and discrimination
within Snohomish County; I have appeared in
Washington’s Supreme Court, fighting against a
SLAPP lawsuit brought by a traffic camera
company, and fighting to cause an auditor to
provide an audited partial vote recount; I have
appeared in the US District Court (WD) fighting
against corruption in the Republican Party; I
have appeared in the US District Court (ED)
fighting to defend a publicly traded
corporation; I have appeared in the Superior
Courts of Washington in the following counties:
Pacific, Grays Harbor, Mason, Lewis, Clark,
Cowlitz, Kitsap, Island, Whatcom, Skagit,
Snohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, Kittitas,
Yakima, Chelan, Grant, Lincoln, Stevens and
Spokane. I have also litigated in multiple
state agencies including the PDC, DOL, L&I, DSHS
and Employment. I have almost two decades
of experience in mediation and arbitration, and
I have experience in international law settings,
including the development of an international
public law and international private law
curriculum for former states of the Soviet Union. I hold a juris doctorate in law, and
a bachelor of arts degree in justice and piano
performance.
I am married and the father of five children.
I am the recipient of the 2010 Ellen Craswell
Legacy Award for Outstanding Service Defending
Washington Families; the recipient of 2010
Reagan Congressional Commission award, the 2009
Honor Corps for the National Litigation Academy,
the 2008 Congressional Commission award, and
Businessman of the Year in 2007.
14. Do you have a campaign website? What
is the address?
StephenPidgeon4AG.com
WEBSITE POSTING
PERMISSION
15. May Life Pac post your survey response on
its website?
YES
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