ASP Principle 1—The Sanctity of Life

This is the first in in a series of member perspectives on the American Solidarity Party Principles.

Human life is sacred, from conception to natural death. We thus oppose abortion, euthanasia, and any direct and intentional attacks on innocent human life. We oppose the death penalty as an unnecessary measure to protect human life. 

Imagine you are standing in your kitchen cooking dinner and your child calls out to you, “Can I kill this?” Do you say,  “yes” without thinking about it? No! You would either ask the child what “this” is or you would stop what you are doing and look for yourself. If ‘this’ is a roach, you might say ‘yes.’ But if it is your neighbor’s dog, your cat, or your child’s younger sibling, the answer, quite clearly, would be a firm “no”!

All questions about the so-called life issue in modern politics come down to a variation of that question—can I kill this—and how we answer it reveals what we, as people, value. Roaches? Spiders? Wasps? Most would agree that it is ok for anyone to kill one of these creatures. But a healthy dog or cat just minding its business? Absolutely not. What about human beings?

The American Solidarity Party (ASP), in its Statement of Principles, states that “human life is sacred, from conception to natural death. We thus oppose abortion, euthanasia, and any direct and intentional attacks on innocent human life. We oppose the death penalty as an unnecessary measure to protect human life.” While some might take issue with the use of the word ‘sacred,’ it derives from the Latin verb sacrare, which, in its original sense, meant to set something apart for special honor and reverence. The ASP holds that human life is special and deserves honor, reverence, and protection. The ASP values all human life, whether in the womb, or elderly, or infirm.  

In 2017, my wife and I were pregnant with our first child. At a routine check-up during the pregnancy, we learned that the baby had a heart defect. Shortly after, we discovered that our child had a rare genetic syndrome. Most of those diagnosed with this specific genetic syndrome, 22q11.2 microdeletion, are aborted, as many doctors hold the possible symptoms to be ‘incompatible with human life.’ 

This phrase, ‘incompatible with human life,’ is an indictment of our society. This phrase is a value judgement, but a completely nebulous one. Where do we draw the line of compatibility with human life? Is mental illness compatible? The Low Countries of Europe don’t think so. They allow medically-assisted suicide for depression. Is dementia or Alzheimer’s or the inability to do things for oneself compatible with human life? Those who argue for euthanasia would answer ‘no’ to all of these, but with their completely subjective criteria of what a ‘valuable life’ is, where will it end? 

Abortion and euthanasia are of a piece with each other. Is unborn, elderly, or infirm human life valuable? If yes, abortion and euthanasia are wrong. But what about capital punishment? The punishment of death for heinous crimes has been part of almost every human society. Even the Papal States had capital punishment! So, why does the ASP disapprove of it? There are several reasons, from its cruel and unusual methods to its disproportionate use against the poor and uneducated, to its use on those later found not guilty of the crime they were executed for, to its exorbitant cost to  taxpayers. Moreover, the state ending a human life compounds the crime of the executed. Just as aborting a child conceived in rape puts the woman through more trauma (and punishes someone innocent of the crime), capital punishment traumatizes all  those involved, from the victim’s family who are normally invited to watch, to the government officials executing the criminal. If we are to truly embrace a culture of life we must also reject capital punishment.

The protection of human life, and its flourishing, should be humanity’s paramount focus. It is an indictment of American political culture that the ASP should have to state this belief. This principle, however, is what truly sets the ASP apart in the American political landscape.