Death penalty is worth less than a second

I noticed that you devoted 18 column-inches to cover the death penalty in Maryland (CR/May 29) but buried Senator Kennedy’s support for abortion in the last three quarters of a column-inch of an article praising the senator. Assuming all life is equal, I compared the total number of executions in the United States since 1977 to the present (1,099) to a reasonable estimate of abortions during the same period based on Gutmacher data. Using the calculated proportion, I then allocated the proper amount of time in an eight-hour work day that belongs to discussing the death penalty versus the discussion of abortion. Only by rounding is the death penalty entitled to even a second of discussion time. Abortion’s fair share of discussion time is 7 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Rather than pretending that time spent opposing the death penalty is pro-life, shouldn’t you be asking your readers to pray for Senator Kennedy’s soul?