DEATH PENALTY FOES DISCRIMINATE AGAINST UNBORN [ARTICLE ON PRO-LIFE OF THE MONTH ~ MAY 2013]

NOTE: As I am not able to find many Pro-Life articles at the moment, it will be Pro-Life Article of the Month, not Fortnight. Once I can get more, I will change it back to twice a month.

NOTICE: The following article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to violate their copyright. I will give some information on them. As Maryland had abolished the death penalty on 2 May 2013, I will post the article of the Pro-Life of the month from Cal Thomas. Thank God the abolition does not apply to the five men on death row but sad but to admit this, why does the Governor support abortion?

PAGE TITLE: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists

ARTICLE TITLE: Death penalty foes discriminate against unborn

DATE: 18 March 2013

AUTHOR: Cal Thomas

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Cal Thomas A.K.A John Calvin "Cal" Thomas (born 1942) is an American syndicated columnist, pundit, author and radio commentator. Thomas was born in 1942 in Washington, D.C.. He attended the American University for his undergraduate education. During the 1960s and early 1970s he worked as a reporter at NBC News. His program on CBNC was nominated for a Cable ACE Award in 1995. His column, which began in 1984, is syndicated by Tribune Media Services. Thomas joined Fox News as a political contributor in 1997. He is a panelist on Fox News Watch, a Fox News Channel program criticizing the media, and until September 2005 hosted After Hours with Cal Thomas on the same network. He also gives a daily radio commentary, which is heard on more than 300 stations. Thomas has written extensively about political issues and he supports, among other things, many American positions related to Israel. He has written 10 books, including Blinded By Might, that discussed, among other things, the role of the Moral Majority in American politics of the 1980s. Thomas was vice president of the Moral Majority from 1980 to 1985. He is an evangelical Christian. A study at Hamilton College indicated Thomas as the least accurate prognosticator among 26 notable pundits.

URL: http://washingtonexaminer.com/cal-thomas-death-penalty-foes-discriminate-against-unborn/article/2524703

Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas: Death penalty foes discriminate against unborn

March 18, 2013 | 9:00 pm 

The Maryland legislature recently voted to abolish capital punishment in the state, making Maryland the sixth state in the past six years to eliminate the death penalty.

The primary argument for abolition is that our justice system is imperfect and it's possible an innocent person could be condemned. Indeed, anti-death penalty activists presented Kirk Bloodsworth, a former death-row inmate, convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl. His conviction was overturned on appeal after the court found the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense. However, Bloodsworth was retried and sentenced to two life terms, a conviction later upheld on appeal. Then in 1993, Bloodsworth was exonerated after DNA linked someone else to the crime.

Death penalty opponents say the law is worth repealing if just one innocent life is saved.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told the Washington Post, "State after state is deciding that the death penalty is simply not worth the risks and costs to retain." He predicts other states will soon follow Maryland's lead. According to the Post, 33 states still retain capital punishment, though "many are using it more sparingly than in the past."

In the debate over the death penalty some have argued that it's a deterrent to crime, which can't be proved, any more than it is provable that abolishing it will encourage some to kill, knowing the worst they will face is life in prison without parole. Others have argued the death penalty is "too expensive" because the court system allows for numerous appeals, a process that takes years.

During the debate in Maryland, Democratic state Sen. John C. Astle told the Post, "The idea of strapping someone down and deliberately taking their life -- it was a little difficult for me."

Which brings me to abortion; abortion may not involve the "strapping down" of a convicted felon, but it takes a life.

Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley has been a passionate advocate for repealing the death penalty, but equally as passionate in opposing limits to abortion in his state. "I believe that it is an issue that is best left to the individual conscience of women," he told the Maryland Catholic Conference in October.

In 2008, according to the Guttmacher Institute, while the number of abortions in the U.S. remained "virtually unchanged from 2005 when the abortion rate was 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women," Maryland produced "a rate of 29 abortions per 1,000 women. ..." Maryland is a liberal state, economically, socially and politically. In announcing his decision to oppose the death penalty, Baltimore Republican Del. William J. Frank at least sounded consistent when he told the Post: "I'm a reluctant convert to supporting repeal, but a convert nonetheless." Frank cited his "respect for human life."

Respect for human life should mean a murderer ought to forfeit his or her own life as payment for the life taken. Life in prison is unequal punishment. It is not fair to the victim, to the victim's family or even to the killer who has not received his or her "just deserts."

In the case of abortion, obviously there can be no sentence of death or life in prison for the "murderer." But that doesn't mean that Maryland cannot exercise an equivalent respect for life through laws that restrict abortion. Shouldn't the unborn also be spared a death sentence? If the Maryland legislature can stop the state from taking the lives of murderers, it can adopt restrictions that save the lives of many threatened by abortion.

I have often proposed a deal for my liberal friends who are anti-death penalty but pro-choice: I will surrender my position in favor of the death penalty, if pro-choicers support laws that protect the unborn.

It seems like a fair deal to me, but so far I've gotten no takers. This seems ideologically inconsistent, if they argue all human life is valuable.

The death chambers will close in Maryland for a few murderers, but thousands of abortions will continue in Maryland each year -- more than 1 million annually nationwide -- "sentencing" innocents to death without due process.

Examiner Columnist Cal Thomas is nationally syndicated by Tribune Media.