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Ohio's governor has postponed the execution of a child-killer so he can study his offer to donate organs — a proposal that experts say would be a logistical nightmare and an ethical minefield.
"The only options for executing someone to obtain vital organs is to either shoot them in the head or chop their head off and have a team of doctors ready to step in immediately," said Arthur Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Theoretically, he said, the method of execution could be the removal of the organs under anesthesia.
"The problem is no doctor is going to do it," he said. "It violates all medical ethics and now you're making the doctor the executioner."
Those are some of the practicalities that Ohio Gov. John Kasich will have to consider as he explores the possibility of allowing death-row inmate Ronald Phillips, 40, to give his organs to ailing relatives or members of the public.
Phillips, who was convicted of raping and beating to death his girlfriend's 3-year-old in 1993, was one day away from...
"The only options for executing someone to obtain vital organs is to either shoot them in the head or chop their head off and have a team of doctors ready to step in immediately," said Arthur Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Theoretically, he said, the method of execution could be the removal of the organs under anesthesia.
"The problem is no doctor is going to do it," he said. "It violates all medical ethics and now you're making the doctor the executioner."
Those are some of the practicalities that Ohio Gov. John Kasich will have to consider as he explores the possibility of allowing death-row inmate Ronald Phillips, 40, to give his organs to ailing relatives or members of the public.
Phillips, who was convicted of raping and beating to death his girlfriend's 3-year-old in 1993, was one day away from...