Death penalty

The death penalty is another fundamental life and death issue, like abortion and euthanasia. Support for the death penalty also tends to break on which side of the quality of life versus quantity of life debate you fall on, though it is the Quality of Life side that typically opposes the death penalty, despite the "Pro-Life" protestations of the Quantity side.

Then you have the Catholic Church that takes a consistently "pro-life" stance and opposes the death penalty, while American Evangelicals largely support it. Perhaps it's because the Catholic Church is centered in Europe, where the death penalty has been outlawed by every country for years.

And why do those who are so eager to get abortions and euthanize the elderly so reluctant to enact the death penalty on violent criminals? Don't they like offing the inconvenient?

Utilitarian ethics necessitates that we prioritize the desires of the living over those of the unborn or the "dying and would prefer to get on with it". The death penalty, being the ultimate deprivation of liberty that can be inflicted, one that precludes any hope of retribution, and is more likely to cause further trauma on the families of victim and perpetrator alike than to provide any sense of closure, will not contribute positively to the happiness of a society.