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Well i sort of agree with your argument. I'm just playing devils advocate right now so don't destroy me and don't take this as a personal attack ;)

what if the punishment for child murder wasn't death, but sterilization. You seem to be okay with the government deciding who lives and dies (I'm pro death penalty by the way), but not okay with who can have children or not.

Don't be too quick to compare This to what China is doing. That is the law of the land, everyone conforms to that law. This is for someone who killed her 5 week old child. I see a big difference between telling everyone you can only have x amount of y children vs telling someone convicted of murder you can't have any more children.

"I'm just playing devils advocate right now so don't destroy me and don't take this as a personal attack ;)"

I promise not to do either. :)

"You seem to be okay with the government deciding who lives and dies"

Well, kind of. That is, I believe the government has the right to take life for two reasons: in defense of its citizens, waging war against nations and terrorists who mean to kill Americans, and as a matter of justice. I don't buy anti-death penalty talk about executing the murderer not making the murder right. The government doesn't punish murder to make anything right. It punishes murder to administer justice. It is perfectly fair (and completely fitting) for the government to say to a killer, "You took the life of a human being; therefore, we take your life. Blindfold?"

"but not okay with [the government deciding] who can have children or not"

No, I'm not. That's not the government's place--and the judiciary, especially, should not be issuing orders to sterilize someone. People have a right to reproduce. They do not have a right to kill or abuse their offspring. Can't the government punish them for the latter without taking away the former?

"I see a big difference between telling everyone you can only have x amount of y children vs telling someone convicted of murder you can't have any more children."

Agreed, there is a huge difference. My solution, however, is: Execute people convicted of murder. That solves the problem, without the government getting into the habit of sterilizing people.