[Nedusa]

You can support abortion whilst not believing in the Death Penalty.

Although they might look similar ie (taking or saving a life) they are in fact totally separate actions.

To kill someone who has committed murder is totally unacceptable as we as a Society have moved beyond this type of retribution which brings us down to the level of the murderer. The Death Penalty is always thought of as a choice that should be used against people who commit the most heinous crimes BUT we have moved away from that mindset and have no desire to go back.

However, abortion or terminating a pregnancy is different as firstly the Mother is allowing the foetus to grow inside her body using her body, so until that foetus can survive outside of that woman's body she has the ultimate decision as to whether the pregnancy continues. Obviously in nearly all pregnancies the mother will do everything in her power to support and nuture her baby BUT this point of principle still applies.

Also if the mother knows the quality of the child's life is going to be so severely diminished (due to severe physical/mental handicap) then abortion actually becomes an act of kindness in these sad circumstances.

I guess the other situation to consider re abortion is when the woman has been raped and is pregnant, this is a bit more of a dilemma as it is not the baby's fault and it is healthy so abortion under these circumstances could be viewed as unnecessary.

But again it is the woman's choice ie she cannot be forced to bring a rapists baby into the world against her will.

So for me abortion is OK in certain circumstances as explained above but the Death Penalty I am totally against in ALL circumstances.