Sponsor Statement for HJR 5

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to the freedom of conscience

What do we mean when we say “freedom of conscience?” The United States is a nation founded on the freedom of religion; it is fundamental to the many institutions we have grown up with and take for granted. That is to say, our freedom of religion is not Christian, Jewish, Islamic or any other specific sect, but recognizes the basic tenets of these and other religions as foundational to our society.

Yet, what is it to claim a freedom of religion if not to be able to act upon one’s conscience when your religious beliefs collide with the secular world? The freedom to act in accordance with one’s religious--or even non-religious, but moral--beliefs is a fundamental precept of freedom of religion.

In Alaska, we have been careful to articulate the rights of the individual, through both the Alaska and the US Constitutions. We have gone so far as to recognize in the state constitution the right to privacy. Perhaps the right to freedom of conscience has simply been taken for granted, as implied by the protection of the freedom of religion, or as codified in Alaska statutes

However, having the freedom of conscience in statute has not been sufficient, and a court challenge has sought to compel individual Alaskans to perform actions to which they personally objected as a matter of conscience. Specifically, providers of medical services, such as doctors and nurses, have been forced to perform or participate in certain medical procedures such as abortions, even though they are morally opposed to the killing of innocent human life. Today’s new emphasis on assisted suicide could well become a public governmental policy, mandated by the courts or the legislature.

Any convoluted rationalization of a social policy that forces a person to participate in what he or she considers to be murder puts Alaska at the doorstep of Nazi Germany of the 1930s or of the several communist despotisms of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

By adding this new protection to the Alaska Constitution, we can make it crystal clear that Alaskans enjoy complete freedom of conscience, just as we now imagine we do.