Abortion
My understanding is that approximately 5% of all abortions are performed due to an occurrence of an emergency related to the mother's health, or because of rape or incest. 95% of the time, abortions are performed because birth control failed, or wasn't used at all.
In other words, abortion is mainly used as a measure of birth control. In further words, life is cheap.
Also, whether a fetus experiences pain depends on from whom you acquire your information. According to Planned Parenthood:
>>We know for sure that the embryo or fetus cannot perceive pain in the nearly 99 percent of all abortions that occur before the 20th week of pregnancy. It is even possible that a fetus is unable to perceive pain at any time during pregnancy. If, however, the ability to feel pain does develop before birth and consciousness, it is likely to happen only after the 28th week of pregnancy, when abortion is performed only for urgent medical reasons. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ABORTION/chooseabort3.html
According to a website that appeared to be against abortions:
>>Summary of a presentation given by Dr. Paul Ranalli on "Pain, Fetal Development, and Partial-birth abortion" on June 27, 1997. (I personally attended this presentation). Related links are included below.
>>The fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. This is probably a conservatively late estimate, but it is scientifically solid. Elements of the pain-conveying system (spino-thalamic system) begin to be assembled at 7 weeks; enough development has occurred by 12-14 weeks that some pain perception is likely, and continues to build through the second trimester. By 20 weeks, the spino- thalamic system is fully established and connected.
>>There are three different indicators providing evidence that the fetus feels pain.
1. Anatomical - pain receptors spread over the body in stages: 8-16 weeks - pain impulse connections in the spinal cord link up and reach the thalamus (the brain's reception center): 7-20 weeks (summarized by Anand, K.J.S., Atlanta)
2. Physiological/Hormonal - fetuses withdraw from painful stimulation - two types of stress hormones, normally released by adults subjected to pain, are released by adults subjected to pain, are releases in massive amounts by the fetus subjected to a needle puncture to draw a blood sample:
(a) from 19 weeks onward (N. Fisk; London, England) (b) from 16 weeks onward (J. Partch; Kiel, Germany)
3. Behavioral - withdraw from pain - change in vital signs
>>A 20-30 week old fetus actually will feel more pain than an adult. The period between 20-30 weeks is a uniquely vulnerable time, since the pain system is fully established, yet the higher level pain-modifying system has barely begun to develop. http://www.gargaro.com/fetalpain.html
Personally, I am against any type of abortion except where there is a danger to the mother's life, or in cases of rape or incest.
Death Penalty
It is more expensive to to sentence someone to death because of the cost to society for the trial and the appeals process.
From an article:
>>Radelet said the cost of executing a prisoner in Florida averages about $3.2 million, mostly in trial costs. Keeping that same person in prison for life costs only about $600,000, and the millions of dollars spent on executing prisoners could be put to much better use, he said. http://www.napa.ufl.edu/oldnews/death1.htm
Capital punishment also does not deter others from committing the same types of crimes. In the same article:
>>"Deterrence means that we execute people to send a message to others," Radelet said. "After a while, increases in the severity of punishment have decreasing incremental deterrent effect. So if you haven't deterred somebody by life, you re not going to deter them by death.
I prefer life in prison because I think that's a better punishment than killing someone. I'd rather watch the person suffer life behind bars as a result of taking the life of another.
-------------------- The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
|