Well...Maybe the Federal Government Should Protect Life

I said I might change my mind after more thought...well I have. As much as I feel the federal government has no business interfering in the daily lives of its citizens, there is a line that must be set. Boundaries are what make civilization possible and therefore must exist. Our Declaration of Independence is a great place to go to find where that line should be. We have the unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Our unalienable right to Life is what struck me most. In order for that right to mean anything the Federal government must protect the Life of its citizens - all Life especially the vulnerable, disabled and dying because the strong and healthy do not need such protection. The law must remain very basic to work or else our right to Liberty is at risk. Here the Vatican has it right:

"6. The approach to the gravely ill and the dying must therefore be inspired by the respect for the life and the dignity of the person. It should pursue the aim of making proportionate treatment available but without engaging in any form of "overzealous treatment" (cf. CCC, n. 2278). One should accept the patient's wishes when it is a matter of extraordinary or risky therapy which he is not morally obliged to accept. One must always provide ordinary care (including artificial nutrition and hydration), palliative treatment, especially the proper therapy for pain, in a dialogue with the patient which keeps him informed.

At the approach of death, which appears inevitable, "it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life" (cf. Declaration on Euthanasia, part IV) because there is a major ethical difference between "procuring death" and "permitting death": the former attitude rejects and denies life, while the latter accepts its natural conclusion." RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF THE DYING - PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE

Basically no one may be denied nutrition, hydration or palliative treatment. Also, all end of life treatment must come from the angle of "permitting death" instead of "procuring death". This protects the unborn as well as the disabled and elderly because an abortion or euthanasia would be "procuring death." Creating a law that reflects these boundaries also protects our Liberty because if you, for example, have a Christian Scientist who decides to refuse extraordinary medical care for themselves or even their children their rights are protected. It is critical that people be allowed to make their own decisions within basic fundamental boundaries even when their choices are not what you would choose. Death is not an enemy that must be avoided no matter how much it costs monetarily, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Death is a natural part of life and therefore should be approached as such.

These limits would be as far as the Federal Government could go. States get to make their own laws for their citizens as long as it doesn't contradict the Federal laws. I know this is not a perfect idea and I may change my mind as time goes on, but that is where I am right now.