A Policy of Peace
Oregon Right to Life opposes any form of violence to fight the violence of abortion. We have a strict policy forbidding violence (or illegal activity) by our staff, directors, officers, and chapters. Our commitment to the well-being of all human life requires that we respect the inherent value and dignity of all people. Accordingly, as we condemn abortion and euthanasia, we likewise condemn the deliberate destruction of another person's property or the act of inflicting bodily harm in any form on abortionists or other pro-abortion workers.
Abortion
Oregon Right to Life believes in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. We are opposed to abortion under any circumstances except where the life of the mother is in imminent danger.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia (translated from the Greek meaning "good death") is the intentional killing of a person through direct action (active euthanasia) or by omission (passive euthanasia). A complex issue, the euthanasia debate centers on the following points:
Death with Dignity - Traditionally, this has meant allowing a patient to die a humane death, free from loneliness, alienation, and pain often brought about by the application of "extraordinary" medical technology. However, recently the phrase "death with dignity" has become a "buzz" phrase for the pro-euthanasia movement, which supports physician-assisted suicide, as well as for those who support the removal of food and water from comatose patients who have not made their wishes known. Oregon Right to Life opposes any means used to kill the patient regardless of the patient's age or condition.
Mercy Killing - In contrast to permitting the dying to die naturally, mercy killing entails the intentional use of means intended to cause death or speed its coming. It can include withdrawing "ordinary" (reasonable and prudent) medical care as well as direct action. Examples are allowing disabled newborn children to die of routinely treatable medical conditions, withholding food and water from the comatose, or lethally injecting a patient who has a terminal illness.
Living will and durable power of attorney - Oregon recognizes
both living wills and durable powers of attorney. A living will is
a document which allows a person to ask that certain measures be taken
if he becomes incapable of making his own medical decisions. Standard
living wills focus on just one option - the rejection of medical care.
They do not encourage an individual to consider a full range of preferences,
including those treatments that are desired. As an alternative, Oregon
Right to Life has developed a "Will to Live" which gives
people a way to affirm their right to live and their right to basic
care and treatment.
A durable power of attorney (DPA) for health care is a document which allows
an individual to appoint another person to make medical decisions in the event
the patient is unable to do so. While DPA laws protect physicians from civil
or criminal liability for following the direction of the patient's surrogate,
the danger is that they also create an unlimited category of patients who may
have life-sustaining treatments withdrawn by third parties.
Infanticide
Infanticide is the killing of an infant, usually because of a disability. Oregon Right to Life is opposed to the arbitrary termination of innocent life at any point from conception to natural death regardless of condition, health, or age.
Human (including fetal) experimentation
Experimentation on human beings, born or preborn, must be with full and informed consent unless consent is impossible due to age or condition of the person involved. When informed consent is not possible, experimentation is acceptable only if it is for the intended benefit of the patient and the amount of pain and risk have been considered. All other human experimentation is unequivocally condemned including the gathering of scientific data by the experimentation on a human being scheduled for death or in the process of being killed.
Contraceptives
ORTL’s mission statement is “to protect innocent human life from conception to natural death.”
ORTL takes no position on any birth control method which prohibits the sperm and egg from uniting. Once the sperm and egg have united, however, a new human life begins and ORTL opposes any drug, device, or procedure which destroys the new human life. ORTL supports the full disclosure of information by a physician to women considering contraceptives. ORTL supports the right of medical professionals to exercise their conscience in all medical care.
In Vitro
The natural process of human conception is the union of egg and sperm within the maternal body, which provides the safest and most supportive environment for the maturation of the newly created, fragile human being. ORTL upholds the natural process of human conception. ORTL opposes all techniques of human conception occurring outside of the maternal body which leads to the destruction of human life, whether for family growth or experimentation. Presently, this includes any method of assisted reproduction that employs in vitro fertilization.
Cloning
Oregon Right to Life opposes human cloning for any purpose. Cloning is the creation of a new human being by the introduction of human DNA into an enucleated egg. Since embryonic development ensues from this artificial type of fertilization, a human life has begun. Therefore, destruction of the embryo for any of its cells (e.g. stem cells) violates his/her right to life. Because it is documented that cloning for reproductive purposes results in a high failure rate during which most cloned embryos die or are discarded, Oregon Right to Life also opposes cloning for reproductive purposes.
Stem Cell Research
Oregon Right to Life opposes both the destruction of human embryos created by any method, and any research conducted with human embryonic stem cells. This is in agreement with the American Medical Association statement policy for research which states: "It is fundamental social policy that the advancement of scientific knowledge must always be secondary to the primary concern for the individual." Research is unethical if it is predicated on the destruction of one human being for the gain of another.
Oregon Right to Life supports the current successful medical research with non-embryonic stem cells (e.g. those from umbilical cord blood, and adult tissues). Medical treatments requiring stem cells are to be developed using ethical sources. Currently, thousands of people have been cured or helped by successful adult stem cell or umbilical cord blood stem cell treatments.
ORTL affirms the inherent value of all human beings from the moment of conception to natural death. As such, ORTL asserts that all human lives started by any form of natural or assisted reproduction or cloning, for any purpose, are to be protected from intentional harm.
Capital Punishment
Capital punishment, when carried out "justly", is punishment for a capital crime which kills the guilty person after being so judged by due process of law. ORTL does not take a position on capital punishment. Abortion is not a punishment, yet it kills an innocent person without due process of law. Oregon Right to Life is dedicated to protecting innocent human life and remains neutral on capital punishment.
