Political issues which touch immediately on essential moral goods are Non-Negotiable. Those which concern complex issues, the application of multiple moral principles, and which could have several possible lawful means of accomplishment are Negotiable.
Non-Negotiable Issues
Issues involving essential goods, or common goods, which are the duty of government to insure are available to all of its citizens are not negotiable. In other words, there is no policy of accommodation that would allow life to some and deny life to others, that would recognize the human dignity of some, and hold others not to have it. These essential goods are:
(a) The dignity of human life from conception to natural death.
(b) The dignity of marriage and family, upon which the good of every society and the human race itself depends.
(c) The protection of the right of parents to educate their children.
Negotiable Policy Issues
Issues (war and peace, capital punishment, economy, health care etc.) which involve the application of multiple principles of morality to complex circumstances do not generally admit of only one morally lawful solution. While there can be extreme views that do not respect essential moral principles, individuals of good will can disagree about the correct policy to achieve the desired objective.
