Aaah, I've always hated the concept of some deaths inherently meaning 'less' than others (which then, naturally, leads into the concept of other lives inherently meaning less than others.) It's an ugly, worrying, and rather dystopian concept to me. But, to be fair, I can't say I'm particularly fond of works in which the protagonists kill swathes of sapient people and not feel a thing about it!
Although, yes, you do add a very good point - the point of emphasis. Putting more detail in order to show us that, well, this bit's important! That is a very good point, indeed. Even in cases where the gore doesn't seem particularly over the top, the impact of the situation can be increased by the detail of it, like, say, someone getting nicked by a knife they know is poisoned, or a character that's been sheltered and never been injured getting injured and being utterly shocked by it. That sort've stuff.
Gore is, as with everything else that gets put into writing, a technique, and it really can be used to great effect in the right places. As long as it feels like it has a genuine purpose and its presence and appearance doesn't 'overstay that purpose,' as it were, and make it feel unnecessary and weird, gore seems perfectly fine.
I think that's the main issue with gore, over other particular writing techniques - the fact that, given its inherently visceral and sort of ugly nature, you just need to be more careful balancing it, so it doesn't overstay its purpose and feel all icky.