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PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Executions

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 03:29:25 PM EST
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Via Stand Down:

Tonight on PBS is a special, Do No Harm.

A new controversy about the death penalty focuses not on the convicts, but on doctors and nurses who help end their lives. NOW asks the question: Should medical professionals play a part in state executions?

You can watch a live stream of the show after it airs if you are not by a tv.

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    PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Executions | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#1)
    by Sailor on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 04:21:40 PM EST
    Should Doctors Take Part in Executions Of course not, just as they shouldn't violate their oath by using Dr/patient priveledge to help torture gitmo detainees.

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 04:32:07 PM EST
    No. Anyone asking for doctors to do this is abdicating responsibility and grasping for some way, any way, to shore up their own ethical bankruptcy.

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 06:36:01 PM EST
    I don't know how you can say a doctor cannot help in an execution, but still be able to perform an abortion.

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 08:01:20 PM EST
    as to ordering tha death of and assisting in tha death of humans, Doctors have been doing so ever since tha 1st life was executed. We used to call them Shamans, Medicine Men, Priests (Polygamous Dieties), Priests since Emperor Constantine decided that tha only way he would continue as tha Holy Roman Emperor, was to convert his subjects to tha understanding that He had been "Chosen" for "Divine Rule" tha base rule of Feudalism. And most of us "Christians" have been continuing Constantine's feudal lie...

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#6)
    by HK on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 02:42:28 AM EST
    The issues of doctors performing abortions and doctors conducting executions are entirely seperate and should be treated as such. Comparing the two does not provide any helpful argument. However, the simple fact is that the doctor must act in the interests of his patient; there are cases in which it would be harmful to the patient NOT to perform an abortion, but there are no cases in which it would be harmful to the patient if the doctor didn't execute them.

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#7)
    by scribe on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 10:59:32 AM EST
    Short answer: No. Long answer: No; what the hell were you thinking even asking?

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#8)
    by roy on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 11:12:34 AM EST
    ...there are no cases in which it would be harmful to the patient if the doctor didn't execute them.
    It's not that simple. In many cases, the patient would be killed in a more painful manner if a doctor doesn't assist. That's certainly a harm. In the long run, doctors might reduce executions by witholding their help and making the cruelty issue more visible. In the short run, though, it's sometimes a choice between A) killing a patient as humanely as possible, and B) letting someone else kill him cruelly. Not an easy choice.

    Re: PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Execu (none / 0) (#9)
    by HK on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 02:01:09 PM EST
    I agree that it's not an easy choice. I write as someone who is close friends with Mike Morales, the Californian death row inmate with a similar legal challenge to the lethal injection. I don't want him to be executed, but if it must happen, I would not want it to be torturous. However, I also see the bigger picture. I believe that each of us has a duty to act honourably. Doctors cannot rationalise involvement in executions with the idea that if they didn't participate it would be done in a more cruel manner. In addition, there are many more implications, not least that a doctor has a professional responsibility not to harm people, which must be considered above and beyond the personal views of individual doctors. The medical profession cannot allow itself to be blackmailed into conducting executions with the arguement that a non-medical professional might do a worse job.

    PBS Tonight: Should Doctors Take Part in Executions | 8 comments (8 topical)