RAZD writes:
2.death by surgery -- remove organs for transplant into people that need them (heart, kidneys, livers, etc)
Now that is an interesting one.
My immediate reaction is to recoil in horror and dismiss the idea as barbarically immoral.
But let's say we have a mass murderer whose guilt we can be as certain of as is possible. Harvesting their organs could save the lives of many innocent people.
Would it be immoral to save those lives in this way?
I have to say I think it would be immoral. I would not advocate it.
But this is possibly the closest I can think of to a situation where the death penalty might be able to make a valid moral case.
Anyway - An interesting notion.
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