See if you can tell the difference, because I can’t:
Death row prisoner Alva Campbell, 69, will be executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, on Wednesday for the 1997 murder of a Columbus teen.
According to the Associated Press, Campbell suffers from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder as the result of a decades-long two-pack-a-day smoking habit, which makes it extremely difficult for him to breathe while lying down.
His attorneys said he uses a walker, relies on a colostomy bag, requires four breathing treatments a day and may have lung cancer.
Additionally, medical professionals had a hard time finding suitable veins in Campbell’s arms during an earlier medical exam, which might make it difficult to administer the lethal drugs and cause him excessive pain.
So is it worthwhile to execute this guy? Isn’t that cutting his suffering short through medical means, a possibility most states, Ohio included, deny everyone else? Before you decide, read the whole thing, if only to see that there’s no question of racism (he’s white) or possible innocence in play here.