An interesting twist on an old problem is under consideration in Kentucky right now. It’s a unique situation, but one that raises a host of ethical and professional questions.
Ernie Fletcher (R) is the governor or Kentucky. He also continues to be a licensed physician. So far, so good. In fact, the intersection of medicine and politics seems to be increasingly common (Howard Dean, Bill Frist, Tom Coburn, Dan Mongiardo).
But what happens when a doctor/governor directly approves an execution?
When Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed a death warrant for a convicted killer this month, he may have done more than start the clock ticking on an execution. Some say Fletcher, a doctor, may have put his medical license at risk.
American Medical Association guidelines bar doctors from taking part, directly or indirectly, in executions. And Kentucky requires doctors to follow AMA ethical guidelines.
“I think it’s a clear violation,” said Dr. Arthur Zitrin, an 86-year-old retired psychiatrist in New York and an outspoken death-penalty opponent. Zitrin is also challenging the license of a Georgia doctor accused of helping nurses find a vein in a condemned man for a lethal injection.
It’s not an explicitly political controversy, but it could be a fascinating case study.
The conservatives, in particular, might have trouble reconciling an ideological approach here. On the one hand, the right is vehemently opposed to physicians having any part of assisting terminally-ill patients end their lives. How, then, will conservatives embrace a situation in which a doctor plays a role in executing someone?
Fletcher’s executive counsel, John Roach, said the Republican governor did not violate AMA guidelines or other ethical standards.
“By signing a death warrant, in no way is Gov. Ernie Fletcher participating in the conduct of an execution,” Roach said. “Gov. Fletcher’s role under the law is consistent with the roles of judges fulfilling their legal duty and jurors fulfilling their legal obligations regardless of their professions.”
That’s not a bad spin, but that was Fletcher’s signature on the death warrant. Sounds like participation to me. All spin aside, Fletcher’s death warrant gave the go-ahead to have a man killed — and AMA guidelines prohibit any role by a doctor, passive or active, in an execution.
The AMA guidelines forbid doctors to actively take part in an execution or to take any “action which would directly cause the death of the condemned” or “which would assist, supervise or contribute” to the death of the inmate.
This could become really interesting. Several doctors in the state have asked the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure for an opinion on this and the board is due to consider the question in January. I’ll let you know what happens.