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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3754 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 27, 2022

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I see these articles from time to time about how difficult it is for the USA to execute people - not talking about appeals or courts, but literally the physical process of execution via lethal injection consistently fails. Elizabeth Bruenig has been on this beat for a while - Kenneth Smith, Alan Eugene Miller, Joe Nathan James Jr - 3 pieces she's written about at least that discuss doctors/executioners unable to find a vein, or something, and unable to carry out the execution.

What I can't figure out is, why is this so difficult? This came up for me specifically because of all the recent articles in Canada about MAiD (aptly named? dystopian?) Medical Assistance in Dying - I'm not hearing tons of articles about Doctors struggling to administer euthanasia, people dying horrifically painful deaths as they have reactions to the chemicals, etc. etc. - Why is MAiD so seemingly easy to administer, but execution not? It seems like they both involve sticking a needle in someone and injecting a substance. I hope this isn't a stupid question - I'm not looking to debate morality of either of these items but just explore actual logistics and mechanics. What am I missing?

My understanding is that various drug manufacturers have taken steps to avoid their drugs being used for executions (believe this happened for both pentobarbital and sodium thiopental), which has led to prisons needing to use compounding pharmacies to make the drugs for them, with varied quality.

I've also read that many doctors don't want to be involved in the testing or administering of lethal injection cocktails, so the state kind of has to take who it can get, leading to more varied quality there.

I'm guessing MAiD hasn't yet had the same degree of pushback from those groups, at least so far (though I would be very surprised if it hasn't had any). That could certainly change in the future.

Also, frankly- I think comfort is a much higher priority for doctor assisted suicide than it is for execution by lethal injection. I think screaming pain moves the popular support needle away from euthanasia much faster than from execution.

Thank you this makes sense - it comes down to the actual chemical composition, and the difficulty obtaining it.

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