Abortion and the Death Penalty
Here's another example of the sophistry of the pro-abortion crowd:
A common argument abortion supporters use against abortion opponents is asking, "How can you support the death penalty and oppose abortion?"
This is supposed to be another "gotcha", because somehow it's hypocritical to support one and oppose the other.
My reply?
There is a huge difference between the death penalty and abortion.
The death penalty only applies to people who have committed heinous crimes; people who have committed murder most foul.
Abortion is the willful killing of the most innocent and helpless among us.
That is why there is no contradiction in supporting the death penalty while opposing abortion.
posted by The Phantom Republican @ 2:10 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
PR, Believe it or not, there are actually people (such as me) who are against abortion AND the death penalty. Regardless of the distinction in the guilt or innocence of the person being killed (i.e., a helpless fetus or a convicted criminal), I still find the position of people such as you to be hypocritical. Besides, I think a better punishment for criminals is life in prison, but without many of the luxuries they currently enjoy (e.g., watching TV). David
David,
Hmm. It seems I'll have to be more precise when I write my posts, now that I know you'll be reading them!
I don't believe everyone who opposes abortion automatically supports the death penalty (but I can see how you inferred that from my post). However, most abortion opponents I know also support the death penalty.
PR
P.S. In my defense, I wrote the post at 2:10 am.
PR,
Glad to see you're taking a more active role in the comments section!
Here's my $.02. In the "good old days", the death sentence was swift and painful (electrocution, hanging, decapitation). I can see how that would be both a good deterrent and just punishment for those found to "need killin'".
But nowadays the criminals on death row spend years, even decades sitting around, waiting for the endless appeals to run out (witness Tookie Williams, about whom you wrote earlier). Sure, death row is not the lap of luxury, but it's better than being dead.
So in a rambling way, I guess what I'm saying is that, in my opinion, the death penalty has lost some of its "deterrent" features. Criminals know they can commit murder and even if they get caught, tried, and convicted (what are the chances of all three of those?!) they can hang around for quite a few more years. A luxury not afforded to their victims.
For the record, I am in favor of the death penalty. But then again, I sometimes think a lifetime of harsh labor would be a better punishment.
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