State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, issued the following statement in response to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s call to abolish the death penalty in the Commonwealth.

“The death penalty is a necessary tool in the effort to bring justice for victims of the most heinous crimes, as well as for their families and loved ones.

“We need look no further than the City of Philadelphia to see what happens when you take a soft-on-crime approach to dealing with criminals. Our communities and our citizens are less safe, and it will only get worse if we do not reverse course.

“Our job as lawmakers - and the governor’s job as the state’s top executive - is to protect the health and safety of our citizens. The governor fails to live up to his responsibility when he refuses to sign a death warrant.

“We have a responsibility to ensure beyond any doubt the person who is convicted and sentenced to death is truly the guilty party. DNA and other technologies have given our law enforcement officials the tools they need to do so. Once a criminal’s guilt is firmly established, if they have been sentenced to death, the governor has a responsibility to carry out that sentence.

“I will not support any effort to abolish the death penalty. The victims of crimes so violent that the death penalty is warranted deserve justice. Their family members and loved ones deserve justice.

“In some cases, the death penalty is the only path to achieve justice.”