If you support abortion or the death penalty, don't you by default support the other view?

That is a pretty common question here, but I think that relating abortion to capital punishment is oversimplifying both issues.

The abortion debate generally boils down to where you believe that life begins. Pro-lifers believe life begins at conception (and therefore, logically, abortion is murder). Pro-choicers generally believe that life begins at birth. Both sides will dazzle you with mountains of evidence to support their case, but there is simply no way to prove either side. It comes down to what you BELIEVE.

The death penalty is a completely separate topic. 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. alone, 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.

[Those of you who wrote that capital punishment is okay because the prisoner "deserves 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, separate sentencing trials, 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."

Interesting point. Very similar to my view that if one is Pro Choice, ie it's a woman's right to choose what to do with her body, then why is prostitution illegal in some states.

Their entire argument is based on the "constitutional" right to choose what to do with her body. If that is the case, how could prostitution possibly be illegal.

Also, if a pregnant woman experiences an "event" that results in the death of her unborn child there could be two different outcomes.

1. If it was the result of another's actions, you have a murder case.

2. If it was the result of her choice, you have nothing.

Abortion is the killing of someone who had not yet had the chance to make choices for themselves, good or bad. The death penalty is the killing of someone who has had the chance to make a choice and they chose to be a killer. Therefore we must punish them for their actions. A unborn baby never gets to make any decisions about themselves, a murder/rapist has taken the time to chose the life they have led.

They are NOT comparable.

However, I AM against both abortion and the death penalty, but for FAR different reasons.

No. I don't think supporting one is automatically a support of the other. The circumstances are VERY different.

For example, a pro choice person might logically argue that a first semester fetus isn't a person and isn't alive. However, a 30 year old murderer is alive.

If having a soul is the determining factor, then the whole administration is a herd of zombies.

No, because obviously the former is innocent and the latter is guilty.