Posted on 04/18/2013 12:19:07 AM PDT by Morgana
April 17, 2013 (FirstThings.com) - Abortionist Kermit Gosnell is facing the death penalty if he is convicted of the murders for which he is being tried in Philadelphia. Surely, the heinous acts of which he stands accused are depraved. They probably meet the criteria for capital punishment under Pennsylvania law. However, in the event that Gosnell is convicted, which seems likely, I am asking my fellow pro-lifers around the country to join me in requesting that his life be spared.
Someone might make the case for mercy by pointing out that Gosnell merely carried out the logic of the abortion license that is enshrined and protected in our law. One might note that there is no moral difference between dismembering a child inside the womb (which our jurisprudence, alas, treats as a constitutional liberty) and snipping a child’s neck after he or she has emerged from the womb (potentially a capital offense). How can our legal system impose the death penalty on Gosnell, given the arbitrariness and irrationality of the underlying law? Kermit Gosnell
But that is not the fundamental reason for our asking for Gosnell’s life to be spared.
Kermit Gosnell, like every human being, no matter how self-degraded, depraved, and sunk in wickedness, is our brother—a precious human being made in the very image and likeness of God. Our objective should not be his destruction, but the conversion of his heart. Is that impossible for a man who has corrupted his character so thoroughly by his unspeakably evil actions? If there is a God in heaven, then the answer to that question is “no.” There is no one who is beyond repentance and reform; there is no one beyond hope. We should give up on no one.
If our plea for mercy moves the heart of a man who cruelly murdered innocent babies, the angels in heaven will rejoice. But whether it produces that effect or not, we will have shown all who have eyes to see and ears to hear that our pro-life witness is truly a witness of love—love even of our enemies, even of those whose appalling crimes against innocent human beings we must oppose with all our hearts, minds, and strength. In a profoundly compelling way, we will have given testimony to our belief in the sanctity of all human life.
I do not myself believe that the death penalty is ever required or justified as a matter of retributive justice. Many reasonable people of goodwill, including many who are strongly pro-life (and whose pro-life credentials I in no way question), disagree with me about that. But even if the death penalty is justified in a case like Gosnell’s, mercy is nevertheless a legitimate option, especially where our plea for mercy would itself advance the cause of respect for human life by testifying to the power of mercy and love.
I do not expect my request to be met with universal acclaim. Given the horrific nature of the acts of which Gosnell is accused, it is understandable that some, perhaps many or even most, will believe that this is not a case where mercy is appropriate. They will not want to join me. I understand.
However, I ask everyone who reads these words to consider the matter carefully and prayerfully. In 1994, I had the honor of representing Mother Teresa of Calcutta as her Counsel of Record on an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States asking the justices to reverse Roe v. Wade. In connection with that project, I learned that this was not Mother’s first intervention in American courts. On a number of occasions, she had asked judges to refrain from imposing the death penalty on a defendant convicted in a capital murder case. She did not question the defendants’ guilt, or even the justice of the death penalty. Her plea was always a plea for mercy.
By asking for mercy for Kermit Gosnell, we defenders of human life in all stages and conditions have the opportunity to follow the example of the greatest pro-life witness of the 20th century.
Note: Robert P George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties and philosophy of law. He also serves as the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. This article first appeared at First Things, and is reprinted with permission of the author.
-——But even if the death penalty is justified in a case like Gosnell’s, mercy is nevertheless a legitimate option, especially where our plea for mercy would itself advance the cause of respect for human life by testifying to the power of mercy and love.-——
Specious argument at best....this really isn’t about respect for human life...it’s about respect for justice....
Respect for individual life depends on that life... Not the collective of all life...because he does not in any shape or form deserve mercy...
I consider it mercy to put this monster out of his worthless misery....
Well, millions of “Catholics” settle for being horrible Catholics by being for abortion and “gay rights”, so I think you’ll be fine. But what do I know.
I’m not an authority on these matters, but by mom is a devout Catholic and she’d pull the lever on this pig herself, I am certain of that.
I read a statement from a Catholic prison chaplain years ago. His parish was near a state prison. He said he had counseled and heard the confessions of dozens of men going to the chair, and that not one of them had died without repenting.
Execution is the most reliable way there is to elicit remorse and repentance before death.
THAT is mercy.
God’s mercy is great. Heaven is full of redeemed sinners.
“He didn’t just terminate innocent babies lives, HE ENJOYED IT.”
I put this guy in the same category as Dr. Kevorkian, who painted. I saw images of his artwork. Sick puppy.
Kermit Gosnell is not, nor will he ever be, my “brother.” Really.. after decades of slaughtering babies born and unborn, he’s due some form of compassion, huh?
If God wants to have compassion for this Josef Mengele wannabe, that’s His call. As for me, I want him dead.
Well there's the understatement of the month. Sorry we just can't seem to muster up the compassion for someone who thoroughly delights in killing helpless, unwanted babies. He is due the justice of a fair trial. Once found guilty, he needs to be twice run through a wood chipper.
The death penalty for taking an innocent life is not only perfectly consistent with both the pro-life position and with the Judeo-Christian Bible, it is justice from legal, moral, societal and religious perspectives.
I do not respect Prof. George's opinion. By his degrees he may be smart, but by his words he is unwise. Clearly his moral compass is broken.
This guy is like a MAD DOG who MUST be put down.
I agree with mercy. I would stab him in the back of the neck. Rather than nail him to a barn with railway spikes.
Just no. When anyone decides to take the life of another human being for any reason other than self-defense/protection of another human life, they abdicate any rights they had to being treated as a human being.
If obama had a DNA test, gosnell might be his sperm donor. The doctor is a devil and I'd kill him by pulling his prostate gland out of his rectum with the tools that he used on the babies that he murdered.
If he wants mercy, go to Confession, God is Merciful.
Give him an opportunity to make his peace with his Maker, then draw-and-quarter him.
I believe that the single most significant cause of society’s decline is the absence of responsibility for one’s actions.
Gosnell is an organism who broke every rule and expected no retribution. He even trots out the racism card. There can be no mercy to be given to such as he. He did the crime and that crime cries out to Heaven for vengeance!
The misguided notion that capital punishment somehow weakens us all as human beings is specious at best; and a flat out lie at worst. If more of those convicted of heinous crimes were executed, perhaps other lives might be saved. More importantly, we would be saying that you can’t get away with it.
He should be hanged, but only after being doused with gasoline and set on fire.
The pain and cruelty this monster inflicted on babies in inexcusable.
My thoughts on the Death Penalty-
No, putting someone to death does not bring their victims back to life or undo the evil they have committed. But I don’t think that is relevant at all to the subject. No one who supports the Death Penalty believes the person’s death will make everything alright. It is about Justice, not Vengeance. “Vengeance is Mine,” sayeth the Lord. Only God can exact vengeance upon a person’s soul. We can not.
But there is something we can do. We can say “By these actions you have forfeited your right to live amongst us and no length of incarceration will satisfy your debt. It is either too dangerous to allow you to live or your actions are so heinous that you no longer deserve to live out the remainder of your life. And so, we cast you out of this world and send you on to the next. This will satisfy your debt to society but only God can decide upon your debt to Him. When you stand before Him, He will pass judgment upon you. May God have mercy on your everlasting soul.”
As to the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” I believe the KJV is a slight mistranslation. The correct translation would have been, “Thou shalt not murder,” where murder is the taking of innocent life. It is not murder to kill in legitimate self-defense, to kill in battle, or to kill the wicked.
If given the DP, it will likely go through years of appeals, at huge cost to the public, and Gosnell will probably die in prison before its finally resolved.
As a death row inmate, he will receive special, preferential treatment..cell, care, etc..
I'd rather see him get life without parole...send him off to the worst prison in the PA system, where he'll be out of the public limelight, AND in the general population, and let the inmates deal with him...and believe me, they will make him WISH that he'd been executed..
Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
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