1. Going slightly against the grain here - philosophically I am pro-life, but I recognize that outlawing abortion creates a host of new problems arguably worse than abortion itself. Conception seems to be the most logical 'marker' for the beginning of life for me, but I know many others here will argue that it is birth. 2. I am anti capital punishment, as I think it is far too easy for us to make mistakes when it comes to condemning people. There's the saying "It is better for 10 guilty men to go free than 1 innocent man be killed", and I agree with that. With regards to your anecdote, I think the contradiction diminishes if you consider him to value only innocent life. If the convict has been condemned, barring error on part of the justice system, then he is not innocent.