Tuesday, November 11, 2008

We need a right to not murder

I think we need a new right in this country: The right for no person to engage in an act that they reasonably perceive as directly contributing to the death of an innocent human being. Therefore, no doctor could ever be legally required to enact an abortion or prescribe euthenasia medication. No pharmicist could ever be legally required to fill a prescription for abortive medication or legal suicide medication. An argument could be made about whether paying taxes for these purposes is "directly contributing" to these acts, and that would need to be resolved. Birth control (the Pill, specifically) would also be an edge case; I believe medical science defines the start of life as implantation, not conception, but I believe that the numbers of people who believe life begins at conception is enough to clearly demonstrate that concerns about the Pill being an abortifacient fit the "reasonable concern" clause.

This could prevent hundreds of potential horrific human rights abuses involving the deaths of innocent people. Many of the worst-case abuses that pro-life people fear could be mitigated with this clause, as those who don't want to participate in these horrors will have legal grounds to oppose them, at least through non-participation. And don't humans at least have the right to avoid directly participating in the murders of innocent humans?

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