Is it possible to be against the death penalty and for abortion? What about the other way around? Is it possible to be pro-life but still support the death penalty?

Democrats and Republicans believe it is. At least the parties’ official platforms support that duality.  Both parties recently made their platforms official at their conventions.

The Republican platform says that: The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.

It also says that: The constitutionality of the death penalty is firmly settled by its explicit mention in the Fifth Amendment. With the murder rate soaring in our great cities, we condemn the Supreme Court’s erosion of the right of the people to enact capital punishment in their states.

Democrats have it the other way around. They believe an unborn child has no right to life, but those who have committed atrocious crimes do. Or at least the party’s platform makes that case.

The platform reads: We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment. It has no place in the United States of America.

But it also says: We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion — regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured.

Doesn’t it seem odd that both parties make a stand on being pro-life, but on opposite ends of the spectrum? It illustrates just how far apart the two parties are on this and many other issues.

Is there a middle ground that makes more sense? Is there a position that values life, from conception to death? Is there a place for those who believe that the government should err on the side of life in both circumstances?

Apparently not. At least not if you believe what you read in both parties’ platforms.