Abortion vs Death Penalty -- What Makes Sense

I don’t understand the logic of Governor Newsom. He recently decided that the State of California will no longer do business with Walgreens since Walgreens stated it will not sell the abortion pill in red states where abortions are banned or limited. Yet Governor Newsom also cancelled the death penalty in the state and is terminating the use of lethal injection or obtaining a supply of the drugs necessary for that purpose.

On the one hand, in California, a woman has the right to kill an unborn fetus without any sort of review, other than the patient and her doctor. No court order, no trial by a jury of your peers, no court proceedings whatsoever. And in some blue states, this can be done right up to natural birth.

Yet on the other hand, Governor Newson does not want to put to death a criminal who has been tried and convicted of the crime which resulted in a death penalty verdict. In this case, the person was charged with a crime, usually a violent crime which more than likely resulted in the death of another person or people. The charged person was given a fair trial in which to present countervailing evidence by a jury of the charged person’s peers. If found guilty, a second trial is had to determine the sentence to be carried out, again, typically by a jury. If sentenced to death, the convicted felon can spend years appealing the decision for one reason or another, delaying execution for an excessively long time. Now, all of this is tossed away by the Governor.

If this isn’t hypocritical, I don’t know what is. To allow the killing of the fetus without any due process and then deny the enforcement of due process to a living criminal is just mind blowing. The State of California would rather spend millions on keeping inmates alive and who will never see the light of day to allowing an innocent child to be born. These positions just are not compatible to the law or society.

Republicans, on the other hand, also need to let go on the no abortion stance as far as laws are concerned. While Republicans strongly believe in the constitution, the basis for the anti-abortion stance is predicated upon mostly religious grounds. Unfortunately, that runs a foul of the first amendment rights of freedom of religion. They do not have the right to enforce their own religious beliefs on the rest of the country. Yes, they can be totally against abortion of any kind. However, to pass a law based upon just their religious beliefs is just as unconstitutional.

Personally, I am for abortion up to the time when a fetus becomes viable, even with the assistance of medical machines. Since a fetus up to a point, will not survive no matter what, an abortion should be allowable. Typically, this is about 20 or so weeks. I would limit abortions to the first 16 weeks. Abortions after that should be based upon the health of the mother or child, or if the child is a minor. The rape or incest argument does not fly for allowing an abortion after the cutoff date, except for a minor. Most women know when they are pregnant and how they got that way. If they got pregnant from a rape or incest, they should be able to make the decision before the cutoff date. I would also allow a summary proceeding in front of a judge should a woman need an abortion after the cutoff date, and it has nothing to do with her or the fetus’ health.

The death penalty should be strictly enforced. I understand that there is a risk that an innocent person could be put to death, but this will happen less frequently as crime scene investigations are improving. Older cases, yes, there should be a really serious review of the evidence before a death penalty is carried out. I would make it a little harder than beyond a reasonable doubt to impose a death penalty, but if we are going to incarcerate a felon for life, the death penalty should be considered.

Change the laws so that a person who does not confess, or there is no smoking gun, gets sentenced to death after ten years, period. As part of that, the person gets a second full blown trial to eliminate the death penalty at the end of the ten years. If convicted again, the penalty is carried out immediately. Between the first and second trials, the felon can make as many appeals as they want, including to the Supreme Court. If freed from a successful appeal, great.