How can Republicans justify being pro-life and pro-death penalty?

Question

Likewise, how do the Democrats justify being in favor of abortion rights and against the death penalty?

Answer 1

babies are innocent

criminals are not

besides if someone killed one of your family members what would you do  

Answer 2

good point!

Answer 3

How can the Democrats justify being pro-life for the guilty and pro-death for the innocent?

Answer 4

They do justify the death penalty for criminal unborn babies.

If they commit murder, they pay the penalty.

Answer 5

babies and criminals are different.

Very simplified, but that's the reality of it.

Answer 6

reps-kill the guilty and save the innocent

dems-kill the innocent and save the guilty.

Answer 7

Criminals have a choice, baby's do not not.

You hardly ever hear of an unborn baby going

berserk and killing people. Baby's have no

choice at all, it is up to us to look at for them.

  As for the women who say it is their body and

their choice I would say this: It is NOT your body

that gets torn apart when you have an abortion.

Also you do have a choice, make it before you

become pregnant.

Answer 8

That is a common question here, and I think that relating abortion and the death penalty is oversimplifying both issues.

There is no inherent contradiction in being pro-life and pro-capital punishment, OR vice-versa. The abortion issue generally comes down to where you believe that life begins. Pro-lifers think life begins at conception (and therefore, logically, abortion is murder), whereas pro-choicers believe life begins at birth. Both sides will dazzle you with scientific studies and supposed evidence to support their case, but there simply is no way to prove either side - it boils down to what you BELIEVE.

The death penalty is a completely unrelated issue.  I supported capital punishment for a long time, but the more I learned about it, the more I came to oppose it.  In the end, several factors changed my mind:

1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. In the last 30 years in the U.S., over 100 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. These are ALL people who were found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.”  Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. No matter how rare it is, the government should not risk executing one single innocent person.

[And for those who say that the death penalty kills only those who “deserve it” – please read the above paragraph again.]

Really, that should be reason enough for most people to oppose it. If you need more, read on:

2. Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, jury sequestration, extra expenses associated with prosecuting 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.

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). Personally, I think it 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. 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."

5. 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.  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.  Leviticus 19:18 warns against vengeance (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to).  In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Answer 9

I have been told that it is because a Baby has no choice but a criminal CHOSE to be a criminal.

Personally... I am pro-choice AND pro-death penalty.

If you have a child you don't want, you will see it as a burden and not treat it and provide for it the way it deserves... That abuse and neglect leads to maladjusted people... Which leads to criminals and over all wastes of life...

Abortion LOWERS crime rates... There are MANY MANY MANY studies that bear this out...

It is just that people don't want to hear it because they think "Baby" and refuse to see how a bad childhood leads to bad adults...

Quantity over quality makes no sense to me...

If you want to do what is best for your baby, only carry one to term when you WANT it and can provide for it!!

As for Death Penalty, what would YOU rather have? A 'life sentence' to prison, where you will be tortured until you die or a quick 'Way Out'?

Think of all the money that could go to things that REALLY matter like infrastructure and education and health care?

If you get a life sentence, you should be given the OPTION of death... It is more cost effective and more humane then life in a h**l of a prison.  

Answer 10

Every child has the right to live....all murderers have the right to die themselves

Answer 11

For many people these are separate issues.  Religious beliefs determine how they feel about these issues.  But there are also pragmatic concerns surrounding the death penalty.  When you look at the death penalty system in action, you realize that the only purpose it serves is retribution or revenge and that there is a serious and continuing risk of executing innocent people.  Sources below.

129 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA, available in less than 10% of all homicides, can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reliable study shows the death penalty deters others. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in those that don’t.

Life without parole, on the books in 48 states, also prevents  reoffending. It means what it says, and spending 23 of 24 hours a day locked in a tiny cell is not a picnic. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty.

The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, mostly because of the upfront costs of legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. (upfront=before and during the initial trial)

The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members have testified that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. Speed up the process and we will execute innocent people.

Sources:

Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org,  for stats on executions, reports on costs, deterrence studies, links to FBI crime stats and links to testimony (at state legislatures) of victims' family members.

FBI   http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/tab...  

The Innocence Project, www.innocenceproject.org

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/COcostte... page 3 and 4 on why the death penalty is so expensive

http://www.njadp.org/forms/signon-surviv... for statements of victims’ families



http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/death... for the Catholic Bishops Campaign to abolish the death penalty

Answer 12

how do democrats justify murdering babies but letting violent criminals live?

Answer 13

Its called taking responsibilities for your own actions... And yes, both are justified... :)

Answer 14

A baby did not have a choice. A criminal broke the law and must accept the consequences of his actions

Answer 15

So you are comparing a child-raping murderer to a pre-term infant?  Once you figure that out you'll have your answer.  If you can't figure it out then you are just too far gone to reach.

Answer 16

Protecting the innocent. You protect an innocent baby when you're pro-life, you're protecting society when you execute a depraved killer. Seems perfectly sensible to me.

Answer 17

Fetuses are innocent and don't do anything to merit their death.  They're killed for being conceived and an inconvenience.  The fetus is indiscriminately killed for being here.

The death penalty is a deterrant  and punishment for taking someone else's life, a form of justice to the family of the murdered.  And it removes a dangerous murderer from the face of the earth, and better than taxes paying for their existence in a life sentence.  

The difference is the REASON for the killing.

Answer 18

I believe a baby is a person even when they are inside the woman.  The legal system sees this too.  Killers of pregnant women can be charged with double murder.  But, if the mother wants to kill her baby, she is allowed????   That just doesn't make sense.  Adoption, not abortion, people.  Come on.  Don't kill the child.

The death penalty is the law of the land.  Obey the laws and it won't happen.  "He does not carry the sword for nothing."

Answer 19

the morals of the two are not even remotely similar. they're only confused on the left. for you libs; that's a sense of right and wrong.

Answer 20

Not all Democrats are inconsistent.  I only favor abortion because it is impossible to stop.  I ask that it be restricted to the first trimester, and that steps are talen to prevent unwanted pregnancy-- that abortion not be used as birth control.

As for the Death Penalty, I do not want it to be overused, but I want it around for people like Tim McVeigh.

So, in sum, moderately pro-abortion and moderately pro-Death Penalty.  (Also pro-assisted suicide.)

Answer 21

Save the innocent.  Hammer the guilty.

Simple.

Answer 22

Pro death the person is no longer innocent, a baby on the other hand is innocent and deserves a chance at life.  

Democrats- prochoice to avoid being punished for a bad decision-which is typical of the left to not take responsibility of their mistakes--same goes for being against the death penalty--don't punish for mistakes.

Answer 23

Because they don't trouble themselves with ethics or morality.  Way to deep for their thought process.