Life and Death: Abortion and the Death Penalty

Though Abby rejects the application of the death penalty in all instances, she does advocate the permissibility of abortion in the early stages. Despite the seeming contradiction of ethics or morals in these views, Abby's views on abortion and the death penalty are more congruent than they might initially appear. This is because abortion is part of a woman's overall reproductive rights, guaranteed by law; while the death penalty is often applied in a biased manner and represents state-sanctioned homicide. The fact that Abby can consistently accept the permissibility of abortion in the early stages of pregnancy while rejecting the death penalty will be addressed in this analysis.

The ethical and moral deliberations involved in the decision of abortion and capital punishment are basically the same, especially with respect to defining personhood and the right to life. As Thomson (p. 66) argues, unless we define the "fetus" as a "human being" from the "moment of conception," then a "very early abortion is surely not the killing of a person." While Thomson is arguing overall that Pro-Life and Pro-Choice arguments are incompatible by nature, this description of early-stage abortion shows that Abby's view on abortion is not advocating the taking of the life of a "person." In defining "personhood," we see the conflict between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice supporters that presents the biggest obstacle with respect to

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ght is a right that everyone had, regardless of where one is born or lives and regardless of sex or race. An inalienable right is a right that the possessor cannot transfer, sell, or give away to another person." Abby does not view the fetus in its early stages, especially at the stage of conception, as being afforded this right. This is why she can embrace abortion in the early sages of pregnancy but can reject the death penalty under any circumstances, since the person subjected to the death penalty, in her view, does have such inalienable and universal rights compared to a fetus in the early stages of development, which does not in her view. In the above definition of the "right to life," we see that Abby does not confer this right upon the "fetus" at the moment of conception, as most Pro-Lifers do. Instead, because she does not view the fetus as having "personhood" at the early stages of pregnancy, she does not consider it covered by the doctrine of natural rights or the "right to life." With respect to capital punishment, however, Abby cannot morally or ethically support the death penalty because she views it as a transgression or violation by the state of a God-given, and, therefore, natural as well as universal and

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