Death Penalty and the "Pro-Life" movement

There was an article today in the Chicago Tribune about how lethal injection may not be administered correctly in all cases, and that there is evidence possibly showing that in approximately 40% of cases, the deceased may have actually felt severe pain. As a result, several death row inmates have appealed their sentences on the grounds that lethal injection is inhuman, and violates their 8th Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.

The death penalty perfectly illustrates the inconsistent nature of conservatives. Their compassion extends only to those with whom they can find no fault. That is why it is such hypocricy when they claim to be "pro-life". For every case, other than unborn children (and now women in permanent vegatative states), they feel absolutely no commitment to life whatsoever. In fact, most "pro-life" individuals also oppose social programs to help unmarried mothers feed and care for their children. In essence, they want the baby to be born, but after that, it is no longer their problem. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Christians believe that at the instance of birth, every human inherits the Original Sin of Adam and Eve.

I have always opposed the death penalty. In support of this position, I give all of the standard reasons:

• Minorities and the poor are much more likely to be sentenced to death than whites convicted of similar crimes.
• In my home state of Illinois, since 1976, about twice as many death row inmates have been proven innocent as have been executed.
• It costs much more to execute someone than it does to keep them in prison for the rest of their lives, due to the tremendous cost of the appeals process.
• The death penalty is not a deterrent, as evidenced by the lack of variation in violent crime rates between states with and witout the death penalty, so from a standpoint of the safety of society, the death penalty is equally effective as prison.
  

These are all good reasons, but none of them are actually the real reason that I oppose the death penalty. The real reason is simply that unlike the "pro-life" people, I do have sympathy for those with whom I can find fault. I believe that people are a product of their environment, and that the wrong environment could drive anyone to murder. Conservatives seem to think that they posess some inate quality which makes them better than these people, that they are just inherantly incapable of these terrible acts, but they never stop to think about what it might be like to live the life of one of these people. They have no interest in fighting the poverty and violence in our society which creates murderers, they just want to get rid of the murderers. I guess this is just one of the many contradictions in being a conservative.