Move follows Alabama’s recent killing of death row inmate Kenneth Smith using previously untested method
Three of the largest manufacturers of medical-grade nitrogen gas in the US have barred their products from being used in executions, following Alabama’s recent killing of the death row inmate Kenneth Smith using a previously untested method known as nitrogen hypoxia.
The three companies have confirmed to the Guardian that they have put in place mechanisms that will prevent their nitrogen cylinders falling into the hands of departments of correction in death penalty states. The move by the trio marks the first signs of corporate action to stop medical nitrogen, which is designed to preserve life, being used for the exact opposite – killing people.
The green shoots of a corporate blockade for nitrogen echoes the almost total boycott that is now in place for medical drugs used in lethal injections. That boycott has made it so difficult for death penalty states to procure drugs such as pentobarbital and midazolam that a growing number are turning to nitrogen as an alternative killing technique.
Now, nitrogen producers are engaging in their own efforts to prevent the abuse of their products. The march has been led by Airgas, which is owned by the French multinational Air Liquide.
This is an honest question. In the US we probably put down thousands of household pets each month. Many of them have their owners right there beside them holding their paw. It isn’t tramatic for the pet or the owner.
How can it be this difficult for us to humanely execute a human?
Because we’re kill our pets out of love, and we kill inmates out of hate. Humane treatment isn’t difficult, the cruelty is intentional.
So long as were still using the barbaric practice of state-sanctioned murder, the practice itself will remain barbaric. The only solution is to eliminate the death penalty like the rest of the civilized western world.
If a human chooses euthanasia because of endless and needless suffering, say stage 4 cancer, that sort of thing, I’ll sit right next to them, hold their hand too.
When we execute a human, it’s a different story and as I wrote this I wonder if I really have to explain the difference between euthanasia and an execution…?
You’re missing the point. The question was, “how is it medically different” rather than, “how is it morally different”
You asked how it’s different to kill a human than a pet. Medically speaking there isn’t, really, so you get the moral answer
The moral question is still the issue, though. The original question was asking how is it so difficult to humanely execute a human.
It’s difficult only because of the difference between execution and euthanasia. The drug companies argue that execution is inhumane and euthanasia is humane.
As a result, they have made it harder to execute people while making the process of euthanasia as painless as possible.
There are plenty of options to ‘put down’ a human as well, but most of those require medical expertise to administer.
Medical personnel generally frown upon the whole idea of putting people down, so they’re not really an option
That was explained in the post: drug manufacturers are careful who they sell to and they do their best to prevent their products from being used in executions.
The answer is that anyone with a medical degree will not participate in any way, even in an advisory capacity.