“I affirm the sanctity of human life.”
Our nation began with the profession—however often it has been violated—that all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, chief among them the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The American Solidarity Party likewise affirms the foundational assumption that human persons, from conception to natural death, possess a particular dignity that sets us apart from the rest of the created world. As our Platform states: “We believe that respect for the dignity of human life is the most basic tenet of a civilized society. This dignity is unconditional, it is never reduced by factors such as usefulness or wantedness. From the moment of conception until natural death, every human being is entitled to protections under the law, to just treatment, and to equitable consideration.” The unconditional dignity of human life means so much more than a commitment not to kill.
Non-discrimination is likewise foundational to the American Solidarity Party. The human rights to liberty and pursuit of happiness are in no way conditional on a person’s ethnicity, nationality, sex or gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, or (dis)abilities. We reject the concept of “separate but equal” in all its applications. Solidarity requires that we seek to understand and build community with people who do not look or act or believe the same way we do. Laws that treat people differently on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, nationality, or religion are patently unjust, and we are alarmed by recent backwards movements in America toward such discriminatory treatment. Attacks on a person’s dignity because their pursuit of happiness looks different from ours likewise have no place in a party that embraces the label “pro-life for whole life.” Even “private” discriminatory treatment has serious consequences for the practical liberty, opportunity, and happiness of persons who are part of disadvantaged groups.
Suicide is a serious problem in our society today, and speech that attacks the humanity and value of other persons is an unconscionable contributing factor to many deaths. Hate speech that incites violence, including self-inflicted violence, is a serious violation of the sanctity of life. Freedom to speak, worship, and act according to one’s conscience is another unique human right. While we affirm that this includes the freedom to state publicly what violates one’s conscience or religious tenets, and to refuse direct participation in actions against conscience, this right does not extend to imposing one’s conscientious conclusions on others or refusing to pay taxes or abide by laws of general application for public safety.
The right to life takes precedence over secondary human rights such as liberty and property. Persons who present a threat to the lives of others may be deprived of their liberty and/or property according to due process of the law. This includes sensible regulation of weapons and their ownership in order to protect lives from those troubled humans who have murderous inclinations. Yet even murderers do not forfeit their basic human dignity, so even for these we oppose the death penalty, torture, and inhumane prison conditions.We invite you to read our Platform to learn more about specific policies that we support and oppose as part of our commitment to the sanctity of life.https://solidarity-party.org/platform/
