Washington D.C., Oct 19, 2007 / 08:40 am
Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, commented on a recent Supreme Court decision that halted the execution of a Virginia inmate. The injunction was made so the court could consider whether lethal injections constitute an unconstitutional "cruel and unusual" punishment.
"At issue is not the constitutionality of the death penalty itself, but rather the specific way in which the lethal injections work, and the question of whether the person being executed might experience excruciating pain and yet not be able to express that because of the paralyzing effects of the drug," said Father Pavone.
He continued: "It brings to mind the 'Fetal Pain Awareness Act,' a bill which gives that same consideration to unborn children being ripped apart by abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and beyond. Credible studies have raised the possibility that these children feel pain in the process of being aborted. Like the death row inmate, however, they can't express that pain."
Father Pavone called for the same humanitarian concern shown to the convict to be extended to the unborn children painfully executed in abortions.