Question: Hi Lyn, I'm from L.A. And, I was wondering about your views on abortion, the death penalty, and gay rights, and why you believe what you believe?

LaRouche: I believe in human beings, essentially.

The question of abortion has become a fraudulent question, in society, because of the so-called "right to life" organization. Just to identify--many of you probably know, because I've referred to it, a number of times. In the course of the 1979-1980 Presidential nomination campaign, I ran into the so-called "right to life" organization in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, immediately. I looked at them, because I thought they might be well-meaning, Christian people, or something of that sort, you know. Then I was soon disabused of that; now, I know they're a bunch of bums.

We had the case of Earle Spring, in Massachusetts, which typified this issue: In which a fellow, who was still not hale, entirely, but very much conscious and alive, had become a medical cost-liability to his family. And the family was urging him to "shuffle off his mortal coil," and save them the "expense" of keeping him alive. So, I reacted against it, because this, to me, is the question of the right to life: Does this guy, Earl Spring, have the right to live? Or, does his family--for purely expedient economic reasons--have the right to kill him, by withdrawing, or getting the medical authorities, with withdrawing feeding and other support, to encourage him to die more quickly? Do they have the right to do that?

I said, no.

When I made that case, on the issue of testing where the right to life group stood, and the whole right to life crowd stood, they ganged up on me. They attacked me, for defending the life of Earl Spring against euthanasia! That their concern for the right to life, was limited to the case of the fetus, from the time of conception until birth; at that point, you can kill 'em!  Which is like a sort of a George Bush view of anti-abortionism: Don't kill the fetus; wait till it's born, and then kill it! And you kill it right away! Institute the death penalty, immediately.

So, this is hypocrisy.

So, my views on this or that. I don't believe in any single-issueism, because single issueism is a fraud. People say, "I'm going to work on this cause." "I'm going to work on that cause." Now sometimes, when people vote, they vote themselves positively, to do some good, in a positive, constructive way--that's fine. I don't object to that. But, when they say, "No! This issue is the test of politics," and they come up with a single issue, I say, "This is another one of these frauds."

So, the same thing is true on all these things. What you have to start from, is a universal principle. The principle is a principle of natural law, the principle of humanity: Every human being is sacred to us. Now, some people may err on that. Well, what do we do about that? Well, we try to persuade them. Or, we try to deal with the problem that they represent, or that they have. We try to help them. The policy is to help the people. Whatever the problem is, try to help the person.

A person is sick; you don't care what they do in life: You're treating them medically, you're trying to keep them alive. You do not let any other consideration interfere in keeping that person alive, in defending them. And that's the principle on the question of gay rights, the whole question, all these things--it's all the same: You stick with the defense of the person. The right of the individual, the natural law right of the individual, in society, and the rights of society, which come from that. And you work positively, on behalf of those rights. And you deal with the situation, as it confronts you, accordingly.

You sometimes will have to make a decision; you sometimes have to solve a problem. You sometimes have a conflict. But, you concentrate, first and foremost, on what's important: And what this society needs right now --we're in a killer society. We're killing people in various ways, for convenience, largely economic convenience. It's wrong.  This is an immoral society. We have to restore the sanctity of the individual right to life, the individual right to life. And we have to defend the individual, and help them.

Now, on these other questions: People may make mistakes; we may oppose the mistakes they make. Fine. Just as we oppose crime, or whatever. But, we, as society, must never substitute a single issue, for our general responsibility, for the promotion and defense of humanity, as human.

-30-