Policy Spotlight: Abortion and the Death Penalty

There was one notable contrast between the 2016 Democratic and Republican platforms on which few media outlets commented—the former’s support for abortion rights and opposition to the death penalty, and, conversely, the latter’s opposition to abortion and unequivocal support for the death penalty.

This dichotomy is nothing new for many individual members of both parties, as well as (of course) many independents, but this year is the first time that a major party has officially disavowed the death penalty in their platform, making it a significant illustration of a broader point. The key difference between the two parties (generally speaking) on issues of life now becomes, “At what points in life is non-natural death acceptable?” One party supports death at the very beginning of life, where the other party supports death only as punishment at the end of life.

Both abortion and use of the death penalty involve the taking of a human life. Both are considered by their respective detractors to be among the great moral evils of modern times. And both are even argued, again by their respective detractors, to disproportionally harm minority communities. But while anti-death penalty activists are celebrated for attempting to save innocent human lives, pro-life or anti-abortion activists are often ridiculed and attacked as opposing "a woman's right to choose." A fetus becomes a mere collection of cells, to be disposed of on a whim. And meanwhile, a convicted murderer earnestly argues for another chance at a productive life, while news outlets wonder what this man or woman might achieve, if not for the evil of a life taken before its time.

Whether liberals realize their hypocrisy is debatable. Some may well recognize it and sweep any realization of it out of their conscious mind, while others could truly believe that there is a difference between the two, and that abortion is truly a woman's unrestricted freedom, while the death penalty is an absolute moral evil in a world where most evil is relative.

There is a difference, but one directly opposite the liberal narrative. Abortion is the murder of an innocent human being, whose only sin is to exist, with unique brain waves, fingerprints, and heartbeat. The death penalty is the ultimate punishment for the worst criminal offenses, something not to be carried out lightly but necessary for justice to prevail.

The true moral evil is condoning the death of the innocent child, while allowing the mass murderer to escape true justice.