I am against the death penalty. Inspired largely by the work of the Innocence Project, I believe our system is too fallible to justly implementing the death penalty. I’m certainly not alone in my stance; there are many people against both abortion and capital punishment.
That being said, I can understand how a person could work to end abortion without trying to end the death penalty. Yes, both practices kill a human being; that is their similarity. Now, can you think of any differences?
Capital punishment is far less frequent. Approximately 50 million abortions were performed in the United States
Capital punishment requires due process. Before being sentenced to death, the accused is given the opportunity to defend his or her case. We have a carefully established system meant to fairly determine whether a person is guilty of a crime and, if so, whether that guilt forfeits his or her life. Imagine the outrage if people could be sentenced to death without any accusations, any evidence, or any defense. The fetus has no defense before death; the fetus’s life is subject to the mother’s will alone.
Capital punishment is designed for the guilty. Many pro-lifers believe taking an innocent human life is wrong; capital punishment is meant to fall outside this realm. At least in theory, all those on death row have committed heinous crimes. In contrast, the fetus cannot be said to be guilty of anything, seeing as a fetus never has the opportunity to make a decision.
Over the past several decades in the US
Great post! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI was at a pro-life protest at our state capitol several weeks ago, and a pro-"choice" advocate asked me if I supported the death penalty.
I replied, "No, I don't, actually. However, surely you see the difference between a convicted felon and an innocent human being?"
Her reply: "They're not innocent."
I had to leave at that point, but I would have loved to have followed up with her to see exactly what crime the unborn commit that makes them deserve execution without due process.
Some people make a distinction between "innocent" and "not guilty." I've seen it said that you can't be innocent unless you've had the opportunity to make choices and have chosen not to do wrong. Maybe that's what the pro-choice advocate meant?
ReplyDeleteI think it's a bit ridiculous though. To me, a person can be innocent or guilty, but they are one or the other.
Some pro-choicers argue that the unborn is "guilty" of occupying the woman's body. Difficult as it can be at times, the pro-life position has to include a belief in holding consenting adults responsible for the results of their sexual intercourse.
ReplyDeleteI meant to add "without the woman's consent" to the end of the first sentence. That's where you get into issues of responsibility.
DeleteI don't really get by what basis people consider an unborn fetus to be "human". Bear in mind that this is a purely philosophical question (just as science can't definitively answer the question "what is beauty", it can not determine "what is life") What does a fetus have that sets it apart from living tissue and muscles? So far the only definitive answers to this question seem to come from religous sources. (like those who say the bible states that life begins at conception). Since this site is devoted to a non-religious-based definition of "human life" I find it strange that the entire site presents the message of "a human fetus is a human person" as a given without any real philosophical discussion. It's almost as if this site is a veneer for religious organizations to win agnostic or athetistic converts.
ReplyDeleteThe union of two gametes constitutes the first stage in a *unique organism's development*. The resultant organism is called a zygote. This unique organism (life) is human. The zygote contains DNA derived from both the parents, and this provides all the genetic information necessary to constitute it as an individual. Specifically, it inherits 23 chromosomes from each parent (at fertilization), giving it a total of the required 46 chromosomes present in a human being. The entire process of development of new *individuals* is called reproduction.
DeleteAlso, there are definitely things science does not do-- like tell people how to use scientific knowledge. But it does answer the question, "what is life". Better than anyone else ever has. What sets a fetus apart? What makes it a life? From my biology book, all life:
1. is made of a common set of chemical components
2. has genetic information with a universal code to specify proteins (DNA, RNA, etc)
3. converts environmental molecules into new biological molecules
4. extracts environmental energy and uses it to do biological work
5. regulates its internal environment (homeostasis)
6. replicates genetic information when reproduced
7. evolves through gradual changes in genetic information
[I'm sure there are more concise lists]
You're free to disagree with it, but it would be as logical as disagreeing with science's definition of hydrolysis or covalent bonding-- it's logical, it fits in with the framework of everything we know scientifically, it is consistently true. None of this is religious.
Excellent analysis. Thank you.
DeleteFantastic summary, Pantheroom.
DeleteAs far as "a human fetus is a human person"...
http://blog.secularprolife.org/2011/11/no-matter-how-small.html
Absolutely no hipocrisy. I'd take it a step further and suggest that supporting the death penalty and being pro-life actually reinforce one another. It is inconsistent to be pro-life and anti-death penalty if you have any semblance of reason behind your pro-life stance. They both serve the same ultimate purpose, which is the preservation of and notion of ultimate value of human life. We execute the deliberate malicious enders of human life. There is no single better way to elevate and prioritize human life and to deter murderer. While the justice system may be unable to accurately convict or exonerate all suspected murderers, the consistent approach from a pro-lifer would be one of supporting an ever more accurate death penalty system. Perhaps only in instances of incontrovertible evidence should there be an execution, but principally you cannot be one and not the other.
ReplyDeleteThink it over a second time fellow pro-lifers.