Scott Tibbs
No, Donald Rainwater is not pro-life
By Scott Tibbs, October 14, 2020
The primary mission of the pro-life movement is to oppose abortion, and that is where the focus should be. While the total number of abortions per year has dropped significantly since the early 1990's, there are still nearly one million abortions every single year. Here in Monroe County, the number of abortions has skyrocketed over the last few years.
But the pro-life movement does not only oppose abortion: We also oppose euthanasia. We oppose terminating innocent human life before its natural end. There is debate in the pro-life movement over what end-of-life care should be, but actively killing someone is over the line. That includes denying food and water to someone who cannot feed himself.
Donald Rainwater, the Libertarian candidate for governor, has claimed to be "pro-life" but supports physician assisted suicide. Rainwater's position as recently as 2016 was that "abortion is a personal decision that should not be judged by other men or government." Even assuming his conversion to anti-abortion is genuine, Rainwater is not pro-life. No one who supports legally allowing "doctors" to actively kill people is pro-life.
The medical profession should be about three things: Preserving life, preserving health, and reducing suffering. For thousands of years, doctors have pledged to "do no harm." Physician assisted suicide inverts that and corrupts the medical profession. Doctors should never be in the business of actively killing people, and that includes providing the patient with the means to kill himself.
There should never be any doubt about a doctor's intentions when dealing with a patient, and physician-assisted suicide creates that doubt. Worse yet, it sets a bad precedent that can be later used to kill people against their will "for their own good" or to save money on expensive care. Active, intentional murder is something we oppose, and it also violates God's law. There is no exception in "Thou shalt not commit murder" for people suffering physical or emotional pain.
Do not be fooled by Rainwater's claims to be "pro-life." He still supports the culture of death on the other end of life. If abortion violates the non-aggression principle, physician-assisted suicide does also, whether or not the victim wants to die in that moment.
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