How can some people approve of abortion yet disapprove of capital punishment?
Posted by Midwife | Filed under Resources
How can a person approve of abortion, which is the death of innocent human life, yet be against capital punishment, which is the execution of guilty humans who have murdered people. It doesn't make sense! How can people be "humane" by disapproving capital punishment but still believe in abortion?
How are they completely separate things? They both are issues of life and death.
29 Responses to “How can some people approve of abortion yet disapprove of capital punishment?”
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Because liberals only want innocent healthy babies to die. Go figure.
Because the world is full of stupid people.
Ignorance….
How can some people who call themselves "pro life" be in favor of capital punishment?
Here's a fun fact for you: A fetus isn't a human.
Stop comparing two unlike things.
They have nothing to do with each other.
There seperate issues on the political spectrum.
I really don't know, my friend. I've been answering questions all day from more liberal people and I can't for the life of me, understand why the difference between innocence and guilt is so hard to understand. I would think the difference would be obvious to people who truly stand for justice. Oh well.
This is one big area where the liberals "disconnect" in their thinking. They are bleeding hearts until it comes to the most innocent of lives.
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Breaking news libbies: A fetus is a life!!
Some people think it's ok to be pro-life and go out and murder someone at the same time.
Easy, abortion isn't taking a life. You might as well band condoms because they are "taking" a life as well.
It's not about life or death. It's about rights and choice.
Liberalism holds that the government doesn't have the right to end someones life (capital punishment). And Liberalism also holds that a woman has the choice to end the life of something that is part of her.
well i'm not saying that i'm for or against either. but i know one reason behind being against capital punishment is that whole "two wrongs don't make a right" thing. like killing that person won't reverse what they did. also, a reason for being for abortion is that the parent doesn't want a kid. is it really right for a child to be brought into the world unwanted?
like i said, those are just some reasons, not necessarily how i think.
You know, we can NEVER get a criminal's mother to agree that he or she should be executed. It just doesn't happen.
And THAT is the difference.
Surprised you had to ask…
This "liberal" is against abortion and capital punishment. I think neither political party is consistent in the life/death issue. Democrats who believe in abortion but not the death penalty and Republicans who believe in the death penalty but not abortion. Go figure. Actually, that is the PLATFORM of each party but I bet there are a whole bunch of senators and reps who don't agree with their party platform.
I guess that makes me inhuman, I love Capital Punishment, believe there is a need for abortion and think sterilization of those who overproduce w/o the means is a perfect answer to our problems.
And yes your right, are there such people?
To understand the answer you first have to understand that those who are pro-choice generally do not think of zygotes and fetuses at the stage that most abortions are performed as the "death of innocent human life." That's most of the argument in the first place. So no one who is pro-choice can ever answer your question to your satisfaction. They just don't see it the same way at all.
Many ask the opposite question. How can pro-lifers claim that only God has the right to take a human life and then approve of capital punishment and war, where many innocent children die through no fault of their own? How do those two concepts live side by side?
That is a good question. Maybe because some people think we should save the tax money needed to build prisons and keep prisoners in them and just kill everyone before they are born.
I mean… looking at the statistics (below) it would appear that most woman that have abortions fall into the same class of people that commit crimes or are likely to.
But I'M JUST AN EGG!!!
(if you cook me.. doesn't that make me an abortion too?)
"Approve of abortion" and being pro choice are not the same thing. I will answer in the context of "How can you be Pro choice and disapprove of capital punishment".
Simple: in both cases the question is not about how you feel about the decision involved. The question is: does that decision belong in the hands of government? In my view, the answer in both cases is no. You can be "pro choice" and anti-abortion… men and women have free will. A government can not represent the will of its people if they are divided on an issue. In such an instance the decision must be left to the individual.
But there is a key difference with capital punishment. I might be persuaded to be for it if I thought that all things were equal in a capital case, but all too ofter they are not. If you are indigent and charged with a capital crime, the prosecution will throw millions at their case, and you will not have the resources to defend yourself. Until the matter of equal access to justice is resolved, its hard to have a coherent debate on the issue.
To the one who said:
"The fetus isn't human"
I guess the saying should be changed to "I just felt the fetus kick" or "I just felt the parasitic clump of cells kick" or how about…
"The doctor let me listen to the heartbeat of the non-human parasitic clump of cells in my womb"
Just to be "politically correct" (in your opinion).
How can people be anti war and then say it's okay to kill perfect little babies.
I'm for both, the world is over populated enough.
Some criminals don't deserve life and some fetuses never achieve it in the first place.
I do not consider a clump of cells to be a human being. You can argue with me all day until you are blue in the face. I will not change my mind and I don't expect anyone else to change theirs. Stupid to argue in this case.
But on the subject of capital punishment I will say I think the courts should meet the highest standards to ensure that the right person is convicted of the right crime. If you make a hasty and inaccurate decision not only would you kill someone for something they did not do, but you also ensure the freedom of the real criminal.
there are certain exceptions to abortion.
the fetus is not a life yet when the abortion takes place.
it has no brain activity, no thought, no nothing.
also, what if someone raped you
capitol punishment is just wrong. if you are going to punish someone who has taken a life, by taking their life, you arent fixing anything.
i think it would be worse on the prisoner to just be in for life. they would suffer more.
It is hypocrisy.
People will tell you that it isn't a human life and what not. Yet, Scott Peterson was charged with a double murder' of Laci and the unborn child Conor.
I wish I had the answer for you, I wish it gave you a good reason so that you may see it clearly, but it only comes down to people being hypocrites.
Then, just to warn you, it will be spun that how can someone like myself be against abortion, yet for capital punishment? And like you said, abortion is the murder of those who are innocent and aren't given the opportunity to make decisions.
They ARE completely separate things. Most pro-choice people believe that life begins at birth. You may not agree with this, but for them abortion is NOT a "life and death" issue.
There are many reasons to be against capital punishment:
1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. In the last 35 years in the U.S., 130 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA and other evidence. These are ALL people who were found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most homicide cases. So, as long as the death penalty is in place, you are pretty much GUARANTEED to occasionally execute an innocent person.
Really, that should be reason enough for most people to oppose it, but there are many others:
2. Cost: Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, jury sequestration, extra expenses associated with prosecuting & defending a DP case, and the appeals process (which is necessary – see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life. This disparity becomes even greater when you consider the time value of money – most of the costs of capital punishment are up-front, occurring before and during the trial itself, whereas most of the costs of life imprisonment are spread over the term of incarceration (usually 30-40 years).
3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually HIGHER in death penalty jurisdictions. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida – the most active execution state at the time – to carry out his final murder spree). It is probably due, at least in part, to the high cost (see #2) – every extra dollar spent on capital punishment is one that's NOT going to police departments, drug treatment programs, education, and other government services that help prevent crime. Personally, I think it also has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government fosters a culture of violence by saying, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’
4. It is inconsistently and arbitrarily applied. Factors that should be irrelevant (geography, race of the victim, poor representation, etc.) are all too often the determining factors in whether someone gets death versus life in prison.
5. There’s also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DON’T have, until they rot of old age. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, “I wish you had killed me.” Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (the architect of the 9/11 attacks) would love nothing better than to be put to death. In his words, "I have been looking to be a martyr [for a] long time."
6. Most governments are supposed to be secular, but for those who invoke Christian law in this debate, you can find arguments both for AND against the death penalty in the Bible. The New Testament (starring Jesus) is primarily ANTI-death penalty. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus praises mercy (Matthew 5:7) and rejects “an eye for an eye” (Matthew 5:38-39). James 4:12 says that GOD is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Pro-choice and pro-death penalty; I don't care whether or not someone who doesn't know me thinks I 'm "humane" or not.
I don't approve of abortion. I approve of abortion being legal and available to those who really want it.
The reason being is that I don't view the zygote, blastocyst, embryo, or foetus as people. I understand that they are living and that they are human, but they are not people.
I don't even think that newborn infants show signs of personhood (but I'm in a minority here) and that infanticide should be legal under certain circumstances.
Most murderers on the other hand are people. There is the risk of executing an innocent person. Imagine how terrible it would be to be framed for murder! At least if there is no death penalty and you are framed there is the chance that one day you may be proven innocent and freed. If you are killed before they discover your innocence, you won't get that chance.
i believe that "pro-choice" should actually be called "pro-life." if a teen gets pregnant, and she is forced to have the baby, it can ruin her life. she won't be able to afford college and she most likely won't even finish high school. her whole young life is devoted to a child she didn't want in the first place.
anyway, a fetus isn't really a person, while a criminal, although guilty, has a life, a family, and takes joy in the world. you can't say that about a fetus.
also, how can some conservatives oppose abortion but support the war, a pointless killing of thousands of innocent civilians in iraq? and gay-beating, how about that? those people did NOTHING! why are they beaten and killed by people who oppose saving the life of a woman or teen girl?!?
How is it ok for a pro-life person to kill an abortionist?
Teragram had the best answer in my opinion.
As for my answer.
Simple. They are brain washed imbeciles, not capable of an original thought, they simply repeat mindless chants and slogans. My body my choice, is a good example.