Family Values

I am one of nine children from a Catholic family. I believe in hard work, individual responsibility, and traditional American values. I believe all citizens have an obligation to be charitable and contribute to society and community.

I am Pro-Life. I support the government’s role in providing those considering abortion with information and tools to help empower them to make a decision favoring life. It is my hope that we can all agree that there are too many abortions performed, and that we can come together to provide education programs and resources to encourage adoption as the alternative to abortion. I will always vote against federal funding for abortion, and against partial birth abortion.

I believe we must always err in favor of life. What sets us apart as human beings is our ability to distinguish right from wrong; to think, reason, rationalize, and prioritize; our souls and our consciences; and the power we have to control the world around us. With such great power comes even greater responsibility, and, above all, that includes the preservation and protection of human life. We must protect the helpless, most of all, and life must be chosen as the top priority over all other possibilities. Thus, where the choice is life, versus anything less than life, we must choose life. This is true particularly where there are alternatives to ending life. In virtually all cases, there are alternatives to abortion. It is only where the life-and-death decision must be made "which life" should end should the decision be made.

I personally believe marriage is between one man and one woman.

In Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4 - 3 that our state constitution prohibits town clerks from refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, and we must respect the law as it exists.

Also to be respected is the right of the people to participate in the process of questioning laws or court decisions they don't agree with. In Massachusetts, the voters should have had the right to vote on the Marriage Amendment, qualified for the ballot by collection of over 170,000 signatures. However, the process was thwarted by my Republican Primary Opponent (then a State Senator), and the legislature, who placed their personal beliefs and activist agenda ahead of democratic ideals and refused to allow the people the right to this vote. This legisltive action was damaging to our democratic process.

I am opposed to the so-called "Bathroom Bill", a/k/a "Transgender Rights Bill", co-sponsored by my Republican Primary opponent, which sought to give men the right to use ladies' rooms irrespective of gender, and gives transgender individuals greater rights than our other citizens. I support the traditional family, and disagree that transgender individuals should be given priority over others.