Why The Opposition Will Never Win Death Penalty

Shayna Lorenz Mr. Divelbiss Writing 121 01 January 2014 Why the Opposition Will Never Win: Death Penalty in the United States The United States is one country that is quick to listen to its citizens and try its absolute best to please everyone in the most effective way possible. However, when dealing with certain controversial topics, such as Capital Punishment, sometimes pleasing everyone is not always an option. Capital Punishment has been a part of the United States since 1622. In fact, at this point in time, there were no arguments over whether killing a person was immoral or unfair. Killing a person for committing murder or other serious crimes was simply required by law. Over the course of the next five centuries however, an†¦show more content†¦Many that are against Capital Punishment argue that physicians should not be allowed to perform executions for a multitude of reasons. The claim that it is unethical for doctors to participate in lethal injections is extremely weak. Dudley Sharp, a resource director for a nonprofit justice reform organization called Justice for All, finds, â€Å"the effort to ban medical professionals participation in executions an unethical effort to fabricate professional ethical standards, based upon personal anti-death penalty feelings (Dudley)†. If opponents of the death penalty want to claim an ethical problem with lethal injections becaus e of the Hippocratic Oath, they must also claim such with abortion, doctors having sexual relations with patients, and assisted suicide. One can’t simply pick one aspect of an argument to criticize without addressing all sides. The Hippocratic Oath never once specifically mentions state issued executions. It is a big leap to assume that the death penalty is implied within the oath and that every physician that administers a lethal injection is going against their obligations as a licensed doctor. In Dudley’s article he argues that the Hippocratic Oath applies to patients and since judicial execution is not seen in the medical profession, inmates on death row do not qualify as patients. The argument claiming it unethical for physicians to perform lethal executions as a part of the death penalty is solely