Alabama is set to extinguish a second life by suffocation. Clinically it is nitrogen asphyxiation. It is supposed to be done by slowly replacing oxygen with nitrogen. Our terrestrial atmosphere is roughly 78% nitrogen (N2) and 21% oxygen (O2). These diatomic gases coexist without binding to anything. Slowly decreasing the oxygen induces a buzz. It should be like huffing paint or receiving laughing gas (nitrous oxide) except that oxygen drops so low that unconsciousness ensues followed by brain death and cardiac death.
Earlier this year, Alabama strapped a mask on Kenneth Smith and hit him with straight 100% nitrogen. He struggled and writhed as if drowning or being smothered with a pillow. Any straight gas causes the same sensation. Try breathing into a paper bag—it quickly becomes all nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
Why not just administer a fentanyl overdose? A person would be aware of nothing. Media reports indicate that there is an abundance of the stuff in prison already.
Governor Kay Ivey is on-record saying “all human life is precious” but she is not expected to stay this execution. Does anyone actually think Heaven will rejoice in a death? I don’t care what the early Old Testament states. We are more evolved today, and the Old Testament subsequently commanded:
The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: ‘See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God’. (Micah 6:8 CEV)
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8 NIV)
Yes, God is merciful even to the merciless. Heaven will weep for this death and doubly for the willful infliction of an agonized death. The deaths that transpired cannot be undone and society is not made more righteous by taking more lives, by adding more death.
Moses said “love the Lord your God.” Micah said “love mercy.” Jesus said “love your neighbor.” To be merciful is to embody the character of the creator of life—the creator of every life.
Twenty-five years in a cell the size of a minivan strikes me as a horrible existence. A life sentence strips away the dimensions of meaningful life. It is a nearly joyless existence. It sounds like a just compromise.
The Associated Press reports that “The American Veterinary Medical Association wrote in 2020 euthanasia guidelines that nitrogen hypoxia is not an acceptable euthanasia method for most mammals.”
Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”