I typically agree, but not when it comes to this. Very few percentage of Americans are executed, but we all agree that the way in which they are ought to be humane, for some definition of humane. Most people today seem to agree that 'painless' is a desirable property.
So if it's true fetuses feel pain past some time in pregnancy, then I think it's imperative than anesthesia is used, and that medicine create such a thing, lest we betray our own convictions.
> we all agree that the way in which they are ought to be humane
Do we? As far as I can tell, the currently accepted execution protocol (for lethal injection) is more about ensuring that the execution looks painless, and only secondarily about whether or not it is in fact painless.
We don't use drugs to paralyze muscles and stop the heart when we humanely euthanize someone, why do we do this for executions?
That’s a good question. Why couldn’t they use the cocktail given to assisted suicide subjects in Switzerland? Or any variety of cocktails (OD) known to be lethal to people?
This still leaves an open question though. Why are people more concerned about the mode of execution of an adult vs the mode of termination of a foetus that could survive ex-utero in and neo-natal ICU?
Almost no fetuses are terminated anywhere near the date of viability, much less afterwards. It is a non-issue. The vast majority of terminations happen before week 12, and no fetus is viable until sometime around week 22 (and only with heroic measures).
Then why do we not incorporate those two drugs in assisted suicide prescriptions? That's my point. We stop the heart because we intend to execute and we need to be sure. We paralyze the muscles because stopping the heart hurts, a lot, and people would squirm. We hope that the anesthetic is dulling the pain of that drug, but just in case it isn't we make sure the condemned can't show how much it hurts.
I think we don't actually care if they hurt, and in fact we sorta do hope it hurts like hell. They're criminals, after all. We strongly deny, even in the face of pretty good evidence, that anyone innocent has ever been executed.
Truth is we could execute people quite reliably with a small dose of fentanyl. Or we could use the accepted protocol for assisted suicide -- after all, we kill a lot more people with assisted suicide than by lethal injection, so we have a good amount of experience getting it right. I wonder about the stats on that -- how many failed suicides (of the assisted variety) compared with botched executions?
Honestly, I have no idea about assisted suicide, as i don't follow it that much. In oregon, i thought they give people a bunch of barbituates, which is like fentanyl? I don't know anything about failed assisted suicides. Sorry, I would like to engage in this discussion, but I simply know nothing. I do know about executions and wanting them to appear painless. Many people still want that despite never intending to witness an execution.
