Thursday, December 01, 2022

Lethal injection

I have long hated the practice of lethal injection--not because I have an intrinsic objection to the death sentence, but because it demands that healers stand ready to kill on command. A doctor who kills in self-defense or serves in the army is one thing, but to use healing skills to kill is another.

I would not trust a doctor or nurse who did the injections, any more that I would care to get sick in the Netherlands. (Or Oregon)

We don't like mess, and quick kills--thorough ones--are apt to be messy. The injection looks tidy (the link says it isn't as painless as it appears), and Sparky leaves a few burn marks. "The Barber" or a firing squad leaves a mess. Our convenience can be cruel.

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1 comment:

  1. JohnB10:36 AM

    There's a possible execution method which is painless and easy and doesn't require "medical" intervention: the subject breaths nitrogen instead of air. The lack of oxygen causes the loss of awareness in about a minute and death in about five minutes. Since the 'suffocation' feeling is caused by the level of carbon dioxide in the blood, but any carbon dioxide is being flushed with the breathing of nitrogen, there's no sensation of suffocation or pain.

    See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation.

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