Abortion and the Death Penalty
by Nathan Tabor

The legitimate attempt to establish justice through law is one hallmark of enlightened civilization. All too often, however, the reasoning used to advance that worthy goal becomes convoluted.

According to the ACLU, for example: "The death penalty is the greatest denial of civil liberties." Yet the ACLU also fights for the right of women to kill their babies before they are even born.

One can quickly see the fallacy of this argument. What does an unborn baby in the womb have in common with a murderer or a robber, a rapist or a child molester, a kidnapper or a terrorist? The answer is absolutely nothing!

That child didn¹t ask to be conceived and that child didn¹t ask to be aborted. She was an innocent victim. But the person on Death Row chose to commit the crime that put him there.

Is it logical to protect the guilty, while saying it¹s OK to kill the innocent?

Now, our position on the right is logical: we are fighting to protect the innocent while punishing the guilty killers and other criminals.

Decent, honest folks who support the death penalty are not mean and brutal people. They see the death penalty as an unpleasant but necessary component of an effective criminal justice system. These law-abiding people believe that there are three basic reasons why the death penalty is both right and necessary.

First, on moral grounds, the death penalty is just because it emphasizes the intrinsic value of all human life, and it punishes the enormity of the crime that wastes it. According to the Bible, God established the death penalty for murder because mankind bears the image of God. But whether one comes from the Judeo-Christian tradition or from one of the world¹s many pagan cultures, capital punishment has been used almost universally from time immemorial.
That is because all people instinctively understand that the one who would unjustly deprive another of his most precious possession, life itself, has no moral right to keep and enjoy his own life.

Second, as a pragmatic consideration, the death penalty does in fact deter some people from committing heinous crimes, simply because they stop to consider the terrible consequences of their actions. True, the fear of capital punishment will not deter everyone. But it will deter some, and who can say how many innocent lives that basic fear factor has saved throughout history? Those hardened criminals who refuse to be deterred will also refuse to be rehabilitated and do not deserve to live.

Finally, as a practical economic matter, our society cannot afford to support hardened criminals for life. These violent felons add nothing to our common good and must be locked away to protect the public safety, at a cost in excess of $22,000 apiece per year, on average. By what leap of logic should law-abiding citizens be required to pay for these incorrigible criminals¹ food, clothing, shelter, and medical care, not to mention the cost of the guards and maximum-security prisons needed to contain them?

I believe that capital punishment should be administered humanely, fairly and only for the most serious of crimes. It may be true that the death penalty is gruesome, and by some it may even be considered evil. But if so, it is a necessary evil for the preservation of a stable, civilized society, unlike abortion which takes innocent life that is a threat to no one.

Nathan Tabor is a conservative political activist based in Kernersville, North Carolina. He has his BA in psychology and his MA in public policy. He is a contributing editor at www.theconservativevoice.com.

Email the Editor