Commenters Tim and SA gently chided me for thinking CA Proposition 34 was a total waste of time and of no value at all to the pro-life movement. Doing a little bit is better than doing nothing at all was the sentiment expressed. Allow me to disagree.
Say you were rabidly pro-life and you wanted to do something to save innocent lives. Without knowing the cause, you discover that in the last 10 years, 4 people have died from one kind of activity while 2,100,000 have died from another. In the last five years, the score has been 1,050,000 to zero. Each death is the result of an individual decision, one that you might be able to change if you tried really, really hard.
There is simply no way on Earth that a rational person would choose to attack the 4 deaths in 10 years problem when that required a massive, statewide effort costing thousands of dollars and requiring hundreds of people to get involved*. It's obviously ludicrous on its face. Clearly, the same effort put into something like Birthline would result in many more innocent lives saved. This is not pro-life, it's pro-waste-of-time.
I wonder if that was the intent all along.
After they deal with capital punishment, they can work on protecting the innocent from robot unicorn attacks.
* - I haven't done the research, so I'm lowballing my estimates.
5 comments:
I have to disagree with you, kt. but not for the reason they do. I see abolishing the death penalty as a sound move for fiscal rains. I don't have the numbers in front of me and don't feel like looking them up because I'm on my cell, but I recall hearing that is cheaper to lock an inmate up for life without parole than it is to execute them simply because of the appeals process. save money, end executions.
Justin is right. The costs of the death penalty are ridiculous, both in court/prosecutor costs and in public defender costs.
However, as a former supporter, and now opponent, of the death penalty, there is a moral dimension to killing prisoners I just can't abide anymore. It's my conversion to Catholicism that's the problem. ;-)
And yes, the abortion death mills are a much, much bigger (55,000,000) problem. I don't disagree there, either.
But I also think that proposing a referendum to end the death penalty is a good thing, because it has a chance of success. A referendum to end abortion would simply end up in the shredder at SCOTUS.
The only way to end abortion legally will involve the Supreme Court. Not any plebiscite or legislative effort. It's a Constitutionally-protected right, horrifying as that reality is.
It's really apples and oranges, amigo. I'll happily back a Constitutional amendment, work hard, and contribute my treasure to get it passed. Nobody (that I know of) is proposing one.
LOL! You have won me over!
Still, I think Secular is missing the point. I'm not arguing that we should lobby for a change in laws, although I do say that no pro-life person can vote for Obama. Instead, that lobbying time can be put to good use working for Birthline where it's not laws, but hearts that you try to change.
No argument from me there
Nor me.
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