Saturday, July 15, 2006

Hire an abortionist!

I know that's a strange title, but it seems the answer to the problem faced by the state of Missouri. The state's official "death doctor," who is a surgeon, has admitted that that he might have made a mistake in not giving condemned inmates the proscribed overdose of 5 mg. of anesthesia. Most states only require 2 mg.

The report at the New York Times puts it this way:

"The judge ordered Missouri to hire a board-certified anesthesiologist (John Doe I is a surgeon), and gave the state until today to submit a formal, written set of procedures, including increased monitoring of inmates and an assurance of sufficient anesthetic drugs.

But in the state’s filing last night, officials said they had sent letters to 298 certified anesthesiologists who reside anywhere near the state’s death chamber in Bonne Terre, and were turned down by all of them. "

Nearly 300 doctors refused the job of killing condemned killers! They must take the phrase "do no harm" very seriously. So, therein lays the delemma. Who wants the job? The problem of the dosage can be hammered out to suit the ACLU, but who better to hire to oversee an execution than someone who kills for a living? Sure, most states have not dealt with the "fetal pain" problem sufficiently. And an abortionist has mentally blocked out that possibility anyway. But certainly he should have no qualms overseeing the death of the guilty.

And maybe, just maybe, he will have a second carreer when abortion is once again rare in the land. Dare we hope for an outright ban?

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