Idaho GOP candidate supports death penalty to stop abortions

Authored by sltrib.com and submitted by relevantlife

Boise, Idaho • A Republican lieutenant governor candidate on Tuesday softened his stance that women who get an abortion should be punished if it is ever criminalized in Idaho, a day after saying the punishment should include the death penalty.

“Prosecutions have always been focused on the abortionist,” said Bob Nonini in a statement. “There is no way a woman would go to jail let alone face the death penalty. The statute alone, the threat of prosecution, would dramatically reduce abortion. That is my goal.”

Nonini first raised eyebrows on the divisive social issue during a Monday candidate forum in Moscow hosted by the conservative Christian podcast CrossPolitic.

“There should be no abortion and anyone who has an abortion should pay,” Nonini said.

Pressed by moderators on the nature of the punishment, Nonini nodded in agreement when asked if he supported the death penalty as a possible outcome for abortion.

Nonini, a three term state senator from Coeur d’Alene, confirmed that position in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

However, several hours later, Nonini issued a statement seeking to take back his strict stance.

“I strongly support the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” Nonini said. “That would allow states like Idaho to re-criminalize abortion as a deterrent. However, it is my understanding that in the history of the United States, long before Roe was foisted upon this country; no woman has ever been prosecuted for undergoing abortion. That is for practical reasons, as well as for reasons of compassion”

Nonini added that his wife, Cathyanne, does not share his endorsement of the death penalty even though both are devout Catholics.

It’s common for Republican candidates to express their anti-abortion positions in GOP-dominant Idaho. Typically, many stress the importance of educating women on alternative options to an unplanned pregnancy or making access to abortion clinics more difficult rather than focus on possible punishment for the woman.

A handful of anti-abortion advocates have begun increasing their call for stricter penalties for women and providers.

Last year, Abolish Abortion Idaho launched a ballot initiative seeking to charge both abortion providers and women with first-degree murder — but it is unclear if the group will have enough signatures to make it on the ballot in November.

Meanwhile, Republican state Sen. Dan Foreman attempted to introduce legislation that would also classify abortion as first-degree murder for mothers and doctors, but the proposal never received a hearing.

Nonini was joined at Monday’s forum by two other Republican candidates: Idaho Falls businesswoman Janice McGeachin and former Idaho Republican Party Chairman Steve Yates.

Five Republicans are running in the May primary election after incumbent GOP Lt. Gov. Brad Little announced he would run for governor, but only Nonini, Idaho Falls businesswoman Janice McGeachin and former Idaho Republican Party Chairman Steve Yates were invited to attend the forum.

Both McGeachin and Yates say abortion is murder, but stopped short of supporting charging women with first-degree murder for undergoing the procedure.

“No, I cannot support a woman facing the death penalty for having an abortion,” said McGeachin. “What we should do is prevent that.”

Yates downplayed that criminalizing abortion would result in fewer women seeking the procedure.

“In terms of criminalizing things, I have no problem with that except that doesn’t always solve the problem,” Yates said.

vanoreo on October 13rd, 2018 at 18:26 UTC »

I don't think anyone should be subject to the death penalty, but I find it absolutely infuriating how many self-proclaimed Catholic politicians (and individuals) are avidly for it in direct opposition to their religion's actual perspective on the issue.

Look at the Governor of Nebraska, Pete Ricketts.

Motherfucker touts his "Catholic values" and how he's staunchly "pro-life", but let me tell you a story of what happened in the last couple years regarding the death penalty.

May 14 2015: Pete Ricketts authorizes the importation of two lethal injection drugs from India for >$50,000 of taxpayer money, one of which, sodium thiopental, is against federal law to import. Federal authorities had previously destroyed a batch of these drugs upon arrival in 2010. (The manufacturer of the drug have also claimed to have been misled, believing that the drugs were not going to be used for the death penalty).

May 27 2015: State legislature bans the use of the death penalty with enough support to override Ricketts's veto

Mid-2016: Pete Ricketts, circumventing the veto and his role as governor, donates $300,000 of his own money to Nebraskans for the Death Penalty, a group championing a ballot initiative to reinstate the death penalty in November. His donations made up 48% of all individual contributions over $250. Adding his parents' collective donation of $125,000 sets that percentage at 58% (It's also worth noting here that a PAC called Judicial Crisis Network donated $600,000 to this effort, making up 82% of all organizational donations).

November 8 2016: Death penalty is reinstated due to a public referendum, which Pete Ricketts gleefully championed while still governor. Another fun thing about this vote was that the two options were "Repeal" and "Retain", meaning if you vote "Repeal", your vote repeals the repeal that became law in 2015.

Fun fact: He's up for re-election this year. If you live in NE, vote against this motherfucker.

vector_ejector on October 13rd, 2018 at 17:58 UTC »

I watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri the other night and I think Frances McDormand summed it up perfectly.

Y'know what I was thinking about today? I was thinking 'bout those street gangs they had down in Los Angeles, those Crips and those Bloods? I was thinking about that buncha new laws they came up with, in the 1980's I think it was, to combat those street-gangs, those Crips and those Bloods. And, if I remember rightly, the gist of what those new laws were saying was if you join one of these gangs, and you're running with 'em, and down the block one night, unbeknownst to you, one of your fellow Crips, or your fellow Bloods, shoot up a place, or stab a guy, well then, even though you didn't know nothing about it, and even though you may've just been standing on a streetcorner minding your own business, what these new laws said was you're still culpable. You're still culpable, by the very act of joining those Crips, or those Bloods, in the first place. Which got me thinking, Father, that whole type of situation is kinda like your Church boys, ain't it? You've got your colors, you've got your clubhouse, you're, for want of a better word, a gang. And if you're upstairs smoking a pipe and reading a bible while one of your fellow gang members is downstairs fucking an altar boy then, Father, just like those Crips, and just like those Bloods, you're culpable. Cos you joined the gang, man. And I don't care if you never did shit or you never saw shit or you never heard shit. You joined the gang. You're culpable. And when a person is culpable to altar-boy-fucking, or any kinda boy-fucking, I know you guys didn't really narrow that down, then they kinda forfeit the right to come into my house and say anything about me, or my life, or my daughter, or my billboards. So, why don't you just finish your tea there, Father, and get the fuck outta my kitchen.

Archer2408 on October 13rd, 2018 at 17:47 UTC »

Isn't the Pope and many Catholics against the death penalty for the same reason they are against abortion? I'm getting real tired of these hypocritical two faced candidates...