Methods of "Disposition", Capital Punishment, Abortion
Introduction
This brief commentary is an attempt to provide an objective comparison of the methods used in a) capital punishment and in the disposition of unwanted animals with b) the methods used in disposing of unwanted 'unborn' children.
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Capital Punishment
Animal Disposition
Abortion Methods
Methods of Capital Punishment
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Present day Capital Punishment of duly convicted, typically hardened and unrepentant criminals in the United States occurs only after years of appeals. The appeals, typically, are based only on legal technicalities.
The methods of capital punishment used today are as humane as can be expected, given that the objective is indeed death. It is noted that the intent here is not to side with or against the movement to discontinue capital punishment, but to briefly describe, for purposes of comparison, the methods that have been used over the years in carrying out the sentence.
Some of the methods that have been used are:
- Guillotine/Beheading et al: The condemned person's head is placed on a block and severed from the body by ax or sword or a heavy blade is dropped on the neck by the guillotine operator. Archaic methods, not used officially in the US.
- Hanging: Placing a noose around the neck of a person who is standing over a trapdoor and then opening the trap door beneath the person so that the person "falls" and is strangulated, or the neck is broken. Death occurs over a short period of time. Archaic, no longer used (extensively?) in the US.
- Firing Squad: The condemned person is usually stood up in front of a wall, blindfolded and shot by a firing squad. Death is usually instantaneous. Not used officially in present day US.
- Electrocution: The condemned person is strapped into a specially constructed chair and electrodes strapped to several critical sections of his/her body. High voltage, high current electricity is then passed through the condemned person’s body until death occurs. Death is usually quick.
- Injection: The condemned person is strapped onto a specially constructed table and a lethal dose of poison is injected into the person’s veins. Death is relatively painless. This is probably the most "humane" method of Capital Punishment, and, probably, the most commonly used method in the United States today.
Methods for Disposing of Unwanted Animals
- Injection: Similar, essentially, to that used for capital punishment.
- Gassing: Chambered animal is subjected to poisonous gasses until dead.
A sampling of the methods used to abort unborn children is presented below:
- Chemical and Mechanical: Post Conception use of the Pill, IUDs, Norplant, Prostaglandins and Depo-Provera kill over 8 million American preborn children annually. For research data on 'birth control' abortions, contact Pharmacists for Life: 8OO-227-8359.
- Suction Machine: First tried by the Communist Chinese and 27 times more powerful than a domestic vacuum cleaner, the suction machine (with a tube inserted through the cervix) tears the placenta from the uterus, dismembers the child, and draws its remains into an attached jar. Unremoved body parts can cause infection and hemorrhage.
- D&C-Dilation and Curettage: The abortionist inserts a loop-shaped knife into the mother's dilated cervix and, by scraping the uterus wall, cuts the child into pieces. To ensure that the uterus is empty, the abortionist or nurse must reassemble the body parts.
- D&E-Dilation and Evacuation: The abortionist uses forceps to grasp and pull apart the rapidly growing child and to remove the placenta from the uterus. The procedure is bloody and ghastly. Many nurses refuse to assist.
- Saline Injection: The abortionist inserts a needle through the mother's abdomen, draws off a volume of amniotic fluid and replaces it with a saline (salt) solution that poisons the child (through swallowing) and burns away the child's skin. After the child's agonizing death, the mother goes into labor and delivers her dead infant. Use of this method has declined.
- Prostaglandin Injection: Prostaglandin, a chemical hormone, is injected into the amniotic sac to induce violent labor and premature birth. Since this method of abortion can produce live births, the abortionist first injects a toxin to kill the child.
- Hysterotomy: Equivalent to a Cesarean section, this late-term procedure enables the abortionist to remove a child from the uterus and allow it to die by starvation and neglect or by means of a death-inducing act such as drowning, suffocation, or strangulation.
- Partial Birth, D&X (18 to 40 weeks): Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grips one of the babies legs with forceps, pulls the baby into the birth canal, and delivers the baby's entire body except for the head. At this point, the abortionist forces scissors into the base of the baby's skull and, after opening the scissors to enlarge the hole, inserts a catheter to "evacuate" the brains and kill the child. Unspeakably brutal, this method of abortion is legal in the US up to the day of birth.
(cf. literature, LLDC, 18030 Brookhurst St., Box 372, Fountain Valley CA 92706)
Conclusion
Given the above information, it certainly appears that the methods used in Capital Punishment and in the disposition of unwanted animals are more humane than those used to terminate the lives of the unborn.
Comments
- Even the AMA has conceded that there is no justification in particular for the Partial Birth procedure.
- An attempt to outlaw the Partial Birth Abortion method was successfully passed by Congress in recent years but vetoed by President Clinton.
Constructive criticism welcome. Thanks for visiting ... Bryce

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