Opponents of the death penalty say they are concerned about a newly proposed abortion ban that could charge a woman who gets an abortion, and a doctor who provides it, with a capital crime. It would make abortion punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole, or death.
Death Penalty Action’s Abe Bonowitz opposes the bill, which creates aggravated abortion murder as a new capital crime. He says putting someone to death for aborting a fetus is extreme.
“It’s a ridiculous and shameful way to stir up the pot,” he said.
Bonowitz questions the timing since a new Gallup poll shows support for the death penalty is dropping, even among Republicans. Ohio’s death penalty has been put on hold while the state looks for a new lethal injection method.