Why do the people who support the death penalty, not support abortion and vice versa?

Question

I know this is a political generalization but it's a strange and funny observation.

People who support abortion believe in killing people who don't yet exist. People who support the death penalty believe in killing people who behave in an unacceptable manner. How can you support one and not the other? How can one human be considered a person of value and the other not?

It's kind of crazy if you think about it. Political allegiances are retarded. (I'm particularly referring to the party platforms in the United States.)

Answer 1

I asked that question once when they still had the boards, but i asked it this way, "What would you rather see at your doorstep, a baby, or a convicted murderer?"

Answer 2

I have mixed feelings about the death penalty but as I see someone that gets it, I have to stop and think how would I feel if they had taken the life of someone that was close to me. I'm not saying I would not forgive them, but that doesn't mean they should not pay for what they did. We have to have some kind of justice and laws or everyone would take law into their own hands without a fair trial. Now abortion I feel much different about, There are too many was to prevent from having a child if it's not wanted and there are a lot of family's that would like to have a child and can't. So I can not in any way understand killing what God has bless someone with. The unborn child did nothing wrong.

Answer 3

These are separate issues. Many people support the death penalty because of fears that killers will be released into their communities and because they are not yet aware of the practical issues involving the death penalty system. Here are a few facts about the system, verifiable and sourced.

The death penalty costs much more than life in prison.

The death penalty risks executing innocent people (123 already exonerated) and DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides. It is not a guarantee against the execution of innocent people.

The death penalty is not a deterrent. Most killers do not even think they will be caught (if they think at all). Homicide rates are higher in states with the death penalty.

Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. Supermax prisons are terrible places to spend the rest of your life.

The death penalty can be very hard on families of murder victims.

The death penalty does not apply to the worst of the worst. It applies to defendants with the worst lawyers.

48% of Americans prefer life without parole and 47% prefer the death penalty. We are learning. Eye for an eye judgments may sound good but they do not make sense.

Answer 4

"People who support abortion believe in killing people who don't yet exist."

That's the key fact - they don't exist, they are not yet people (or 'persons', as philosophers would say). Criminals who are executed are already 'persons' because they already have minds, feelings, memories, thoughts, experiences, and all the things that make us human. More importantly, unlike a foetus, they can feel pain and fear. This is why I think that the death penalty is barbaric and an act of state-sponsored murder, while I would not say - as some do - that abortion is murder.

The point is not that some people's lives are of value and others aren't. the point is that a foetus is not a person at all.

Answer 5

Because. Convicted criminals have chosen their fate. They chose when they did whatever they did. Unborn babies have never had the chance to choose.

In the Declaration of Independece, it is stated that people have certain rights, that cannot be taken from them. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. DP victims have had their right to life, and they screwed it up. They made some wrong, sick choices in their pursuit of happiness. I don't know about you, but I really don't want ax murderers around.

The aborted infants have were denied their rights. They are living beings at the moment of conception, when the two cells join together, it has DNA, etc, it is a defined form of human life. They get denied the right to live, although they are human. They aren't completely developed, no, but still, human.They deserve a chance at life. If the mother doesn't want to keep the child, it would be much less emotional trauma on her to give it up for adoption. I have an adopted cousin, now 2, who has brought so much joy into the lifes of all around him. He is proof that abortion is not the answer.

Answer 6

If all unborn are by definition "innocent" therefore worthy of societal protection, and all inmates on death row are "guilty" and therefore worthy of societal elimination, WHAT IF there was a way to know if an unborn would become a murderer some day?
But it isn't about ethics or laws, is it? It is not about religion. It's not even about politics, though that's the main stage.
What it really is about is discrimination and access to medical care.
The law that says that Federal money can't be used to fund abortions is aimed at whom?
If an anti-abortion family finds their young daughter 'in trouble' and they have the money, the means and the will to 'take care of it', that's what happens. And it's all hush hush cause money talks louder than religion or politics.
The anti-abortion view does little to change the number of abortions that occur. It's just the rich who want them, get them with their own money, and poor who can't afford them go back to days of coat hangers. Cause, basically, who gives a sh*t about poor people and criminals?

Answer 7

It has a lot to do with your point of view when a body gets a soul.

Those that are o.k. with abortion tend to believe the soul is acquired at birth, before that the fetus is just a parasite.

So the idea of killing a born individual, now possessing a soul, is wrong.

Those that are against abortion tend to believe that the fetus has a pure soul at conception.

They tend to believe that once this soul has been tainted to the point of killing another it can not be saved and serves no further use/purpose. Thus, the "eye for an eye" philosophy.

Answer 8

People have their own opinion on abortions. I am pro choice. Hell this is suppose to be America. Home of the Free. Bull ****. This world has become so chaotic! Sometimes I wonder where our children will be in the next few years! I had abortions. It is not something I'm proud of but it was MY RIGHT. People may think they understand. Until they live in ones shoes they need to mind their business. You think you know but you don't. That is a women's choice. Maybe if they had free birthcontrol. they could possibly eliminate half the problem.

Instead of worrying about a women's free right, why not concentrate on all the "AMERICAN SOLDIERS" the government sends over to die.

Here's a question, How many soldiers and innocent people die for "our rights". **** the government...if we only knew half the truth!

Answer 9

I haven't been a believing Roman Catholic for many decades, but I do give the church credit for consistency here. The church opposes both abortion and the death penalty. In Pennsylvania we had a two term governor, a fervent Catholic, named Bob Casey (whose son is now in the US Senate thanks to my vote among others), and during his eight years in office not a single death warrant was signed. Even after, I believe Pennsylvania has had only 2 or 3 executions, which puts us at the low end of states that have death penalties.

Answer 10

The death penalty is a law and order issue. Those people who support it believe it is necessary to heavily punish the worst offenders.

Abortion is a more complicated issue. It involves issues about rights and victims. The issue is more religious with its origins in the belief that life is sacred and that sex is to have children.

This issue is interesting because a large number of the people on death row in the US having learning difficulties. That is, they have trouble understanding right from wrong. Yet, for supporters of the death penalty, the issue is not about killing those who committed crimes, but discouraging future crime.

Answer 11

It's simple, really. Abortion is the murder of unborn children. There is typically no excuse for taking this action (most abortions are done for convenience/birth control).

On the other hand, capital punishment is precisely that--punishment. If someone commits a heinous crime, that is the ultimate punishment that they can be given under the law.

You may have problems with the way its carried out, but executing someone who has murdered other people is a reasonable punishment, and someone who is a murderer should expect such a punishment.