Florida Christians push to classify abortion as capital murder -- punishable by the death penalty

Evangelical Christians in Florida are pushing for a ballot initiative in 2018 that would not only make abortion a crime, but re-classify the procedure as first-degree murder.

According to Hemant Mehta at The Friendly Atheist, anti-choice activist group Abolish Abortion Florida has launched a petition calling for an amendment to the state constitution that deems medical termination of a pregnancy to be a premeditated murder under Florida state law -- making women who have abortions and their doctors eligible for the death penalty.

"The people of Florida murder 72,000 babies every year while the 'pro life' politicians we’ve elected to protect them attempt to regulate the practice of child sacrifice as if it were healthcare, instead of addressing it as murder," the petition said. "Contrary to widespread misinformation, the right to murder humans is not protected by the Constitution and our legislature is not bound by any law or duty to aid or abet the Supreme Court in their attempted perversion of it."

The group is hoping to gather enough signatures to land the statute on the 2018 election ballot.

Christian News Wire said, "Under the proposed amendment, anyone who performs or procures an abortion would be charged with first degree, pre-meditated murder. 'Abortion' would include any abortifacient drug or device that can kill an embryo by preventing implantation, as well as the intentional destruction of unwanted IVF embryos. The amendment would define life as beginning at fertilization rather than 'conception,' and declares that 'abortion deprives an innocent human being of the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

"They’re pro-life and want to see women who get abortions executed," wrote Mehta, "in case you needed more proof that Christians are often hypocrites."

"No word yet on whether the women and their doctors should be murdered by way of a firing squad or lethal injection," he quipped. "But I sent them an email to find out."