June 16, 2012

Ethical Impact of Lethal Injections on the Nursing Profession By: Julie Grant

Background •  1971 – Furman v. Georgia

stayed all executions because they violated the 8th amendment

•  1977 – Jay Chapman (MD) developed the 3-drug lethal injection (LI) protocol

•  1982 – 1st “clinical trial” of LI

•  Out of 1,000 LIs 40 have resulted in painful complications

•  Nurse involvement in LI procedures is hidden behind state and federal secrecy laws

The Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2013 (H.R. 3741)

Introduction Dec. 12, 2013 - by D. Representative Donna Edwards for MD’s 4th congressional district

Support 13 Democratic cosponsors, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty & Amnesty International

Obstacles Largely Republican support of the death penalty

Where is the Bill? Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations (Jan. 27, 2014)

A bill to abolish the death penalty under Federal Law

What is the Problem? Romell Broom Angel Diaz

Nursing Policy Nurse participation in

executions, either directly or indirectly, is viewed as contrary to the fundamental goals and ethical traditions of the nursing profession. ANA calls for nurses to be active in political, scientific, legal, social and ethical dialogue that could lead to legislation abolishing the death penalty.

Nursing Reality

Lambright v. Lewis (1996): Any healthcare worker who participates in an execution can not be penalized by their licensing board. Illinois Law: Administration of LIs and all ancillary functions can not be considered the practice of medicine.

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Ethics of Lethal Injections

•  Do not kill

•  Do not cause pain or suffering

•  Do not incapacitate

•  Do not cause offense

•  Do not deprive others of a good life

Nonmaleficence •  Prevent harm form occurring to

others

Autonomy

•  Formal justice

Justice

Beneficence

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Can JUSTICE be served by a fundamentally biased system?

Black White

Nursing Code of Ethics

Provision 2.1 Primacy of the Patient’s Interests

Provision 6.2 The environment and ethical obligations

Provision 9.3 Integrating Social Justice

Imagery of medicine is used to justify capital punishment

Without the “respectability” medicine gives to the death penalty the US would cease its use

We need to learn from history

Personal Perspective

Conclusion

References •  Almost, J., Gifford, W., Doran, D., Ogilvie, L., Miller, C., Rose, D., & Squires, M.

(2013). Correctional nursing: A study protocol to develop an educational intervention to optimize nursing practice in a unique context. Implementation Science, 8(71), 1–6.

•  American Civil Liberties Union. (2015). The case against the death penalty. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/case-against-death-penalty

•  American Nurses Association. (2010). Nurses’ role in capital punishment. Washington, DC: Author.

•  American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Silver Spring, MD: Nursebooks.org.

•  Aprile, A. (1996). Ethical issues involving medical personnel and the administration of injection in capital punishment cases. CRNA: The Clinical Forum for Nurse Anesthetists, 7(3), 116–117.

•  Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002).

•  Baldus, D. C., Grosso, C. M., Woodworth, G., & Newell, R. (2011). Racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty: The experience of the United States armed forces (1984-2005). Journal Of Criminal Law And Criminology, 101(4), 1227-1336.

•  Beauchamp, T. L. & Childress, J. F. (2013). Principles of biomedical ethics. (7th ed.) New York, New York: Oxford University Press.

References •  Death Penalty Information Center. (2015). Facts about the death penalty. Retrieved

from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf

•  Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2013, H.R. 3741, 113d Cong. (2013).

•  Flynn, L. M. (2015). No death penalty for persons with severe mental illnesses. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Press-Media/Press-Releases/1998/No-Death-Penalty-For-Persons-With-Severe-Mental-Il

•  Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986).

•  Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972).

•  George, G. (2011). The ethics of medical involvement in lethal injection executions: Discussing the role of the anesthesia provider. Penn Bioethics Journal, 7(1), 33–37.

•  Glossip v. Gross, 575, U.S. (2014)

•  Hall v. Florida, 134 S. Ct. (2014).

•  Holmes, D. & Federman, C. (2003). Killing for the state: The darkest side of American nursing. Nursing Inquiry, 10(1), 2–10.

•  Hooten, J. & Shipman, D. (2013). Comment: the ethical dilemmas of nurses’ participation in prisoner executions. Nursing Ethics, 20(4), 491–492. doi:10.1177/0969733013487821

References •  International Commission of Jurists. (1997). Administration of the death penalty in the

United States. Human Rights Quarterly, 19(1), 165-213.

•  Kennedy, M. S. (2005). First, do no harm – unless it’s your job? A question of ethics. The American Journal of Nursing, 105(3), 19–20.

•  Lambright v. Lewis, 932 F. Supp. 1547 (D. Ariz. 1996)

•  Lockyer, B., & Carey, T. S. (2004). Capital punishment and the mentally retarded: Implementing Atkins. Stanford Law & Policy Review, (2), 329–342.

•  Malone, R. E. (2005). Assessing the policy environment. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 6(2), 135–143. doi:10.1177/1527154405276141

•  Price, G. & Darity, W. (2011). The economics of race and eugenic sterilization in North Carolina: 1958-1968. Economics and Human Biology, 8, 261–272. doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2010.01.002

•  Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. (2014). Lethal secrecy. Retrieved October 24, 2015 from http://www.rcfp.org

•  Tracy, M. (2015). Race as a mitigating factor in death penalty sentencing. Georgetown Journal Of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, 1, 151–165