bit of a difference between the two you use as an example.
for instance a baby still in the womb who has a heartbeat and cannot defend itself needs protection as it is entirely at the mercy of the doctor/nurse/mother etc who all have a duty to protect the life of an innocent.
the death penalty however is applied to those who have committed a conscious act of criminal activity such as murder
strange that you defend the right to kill inside (and now outside) the womb but detest the death penalty for one who commits an act resulting in the removal of such a one from the human race
