Don't some liberals and conservatives have things backwards?

Question

mostly i point out abortion and the death penalty. most conservatives are against abortion and for the death penalty, while most liberals are the opposite. isnt this contradictory? i for one am a strong liberal, who is pro-abortion and pro-capital punishment. what is your take on this, and if you would like state your position as well.

Answer 1

I am a conservative who agrees with you. I am pro-abortion and pro-capital punishment

PS thanks for using pro-abortion instead of pro-choice

Answer 2

This is often asked, and is a good question. Actually, many conservatives do not support the death penalty, some for moral or religious reasons and some for pragmatic reasons. This is an issue that can and should be decided on the basis of verifiable and sourced facts. None of them have anything to do with whether you are a liberal or a conservative.

Here are a few of them-

Re: cost
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial.

Re: Alternatives
48 states have life without parole on the books. It means what it says, is swift and sure and is rarely appealed. Being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, forever, is certainly no picnic.

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. If we speed up the process we are bound to execute an innocent person.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in no more than 10% of murder cases. It is not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Deterrence
The death penalty isn’t a deterrent. Murder rates are actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states without it. Moreover, people who kill or commit other serious crimes do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Re: Victims families
The death penalty is very hard on victims’ families. They must relive their ordeal in the courts and the media. Life without parole is sure, swift and rarely appealed. Some victims families who support the death penalty in principal prefer life without parole because of how the death penalty affects families like theirs.

Opposing the death penalty doesn’t mean you condone brutal crimes or excuse people who commit them. We should make up our minds using common sense based on solid facts.

Answer 3

The reason why I believe Conservative are against abortion and the death penalty is because killing someone is MURDER and murder is forbidden in the Holy Bible. I believe that Liberals are for abortion is because what Liberal believe in goes against everything the Holy Bible says. As for my position, as a Christian Conservative, I am totally against abortion and I believe that there are five people in the history of the world who are against abortion; God, Jesus Christ, George Washington, Mother Theresa, and the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. As for the Death Penalty, I am not sure where I stand on the issue. I know that murdering another individual is wrong and forbidden in the Bible but when you kill the one who murders others is also wrong to but I did believe that Saddam Hussein had to be executed by the death penalty because of his crimes towards humanity so I am neutral on the death penalty but I could not tell you if I am for or against it. It all depends on what the situation is for the death penalty.

Answer 4

Abortion and the death penalty are not linked in any way.

In one instance, the discussion centers around whether or not the government has the right to prevent a woman from receiving a medical procedure, thereby effectively forcing her to endure pregnancy and give birth to a child.

In the other instance, the discussion centers around whether or not we, as a society, have the right to "play God" and punish criminals with a punishment that matches the crime they've committed.

I'm a Democrat. I'm pro-choice and pro-capital punishment. But those two issues are not even remotely related to one another.

I wish people would stop trying to link them.

Answer 5

Well I'm against abortion generally, but I will make exceptions for certain cases, rape, physical health(mother or child), incest, or young age. There are too many ways to prevent pregnancy for there to be a 'easy button'. Plan ahead dammit.

As far as the death penalty goes I don't think we do it often enough- or quick enough. And to the guy that want's perfection before he's OK with the death penalty. This is not Utopia, don't expect it to be.

Answer 6

It would seem that you cleave to the idea of, "Kill em all, and sort them out later". Most Conservatives, that I know, are pro-life and pro-capital punishment. Their idea behind this is that the infant is innocent of any wrongdoing, but the criminal is getting what he/she deserves. I must admit that I have never understood the reasoning behind allowing a murderer to go on living while endorsing the slaughter of infants. And yes, I do believe that fetuses are infants. They have a different DNA from their mother so they CANNOT be considered part of her body.

Answer 7

conservative view points are very simple on this issue. its a personal responsibility. you make decisions and you have to pay the consequences. if you choose to have sex then you reap the consequences if you have a baby. you shouldn't be able to kill an innocent child because you chose poorly. In a death case same thing. if you chose to kill someone you have to pay the consequences.

liberals are on a I have a right to do whatever stance. no personal consequences. Its societies fault.

so no its about what you would expect.
your trying to connect the death part and that is faulty

Answer 8

i'm pro choice and against capital punishment.

i'm pro choice because i don't feel that an abortion is taking a life...preventing, yes, but taking, no.

i'm against capital punishment because no legal system can be perfect which means that the wrong people can be found guilty of a crime. if someone is simply sent to prison you can set them free. if you execute them...well there isn't much you can do. also, the cost of executing someone far outweighs the cost of putting someone in prison for life.

Answer 9

The real story is bigger there has been a lot of research on the kind of person that is that 30 percenter.or Right Wing Authoritarian (RWA)

* Make many incorrect inferences from evidence.
* Hold contradictory ideas leading them to ‘speak out of both sides of their mouths.’
* Uncritically accept that many problems are ‘our most serious problem.’
* Uncritically accept insufficient evidence that supports their beliefs.
* Uncritically trust people who tell them what they want to hear.
* Use many double standards in their thinking and judgements
* Be dogmatic.
* Be zealots.
* Be hypocrites.
* Be absolutists
* Be bullies when they have power over others.
* Help cause and inflame intergroup conflict.
* Seek dominance over others by being competitive and destructive in situations requiring cooperation.
* Believe they have no personal failings.
* Avoid learning about their personal failings.
* Be highly self-righteous.
* Use religion to erase guilt over their acts and to maintain their self-righteousness.

Answer 10

Democrats are backwards about abortion, because they use the word "Democrat" as a derivitive of democracy, but they don't want the democratic process to address the issue of abortion -- they want to pretend that the Constitution already solved the issue.

Answer 11

I've always thought if Dems don't kill poor people in the womb then Repubs will try to starve you to death. As far as repubs and death "it's all in the timing".