Surprised at What You Might Find
Janet Kuypers
2/17-18/24
When driving across the country,
We usually just drive through Alabama
To get somewhere else,
Leave Logan Square in Chicago
To get to New Orleans for Mardi Gras weekend,
That sort of thing.
I haven’t given Alabama much thought.
Now, I may be totally ignorant
Of Alabama’s civil rights legacy;
I’ve visited Florida’s Cape Canaveral, but I’ve never
Known of Alabama’s U.S. Space & Rocket Center,
So, maybe I’m the one who’s missing out.
Then June 24, 2022 came, when I learned
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade,
And abortion in Alabama instantly became illegal
Except when the life of the mother is in danger,
With no exceptions for rape or incest.
(I don’t know if I should be more angry
At the government taking away rights, or that
Such personal rights are taken away from women...)
Then I heard that Levar Burton (yeah,
Geordi Fa Forge, the guy with the visor from
Star Trek TNG, that guy), the host of the
Reading Rainbow PBS TV series for kids,
He did a mock-show about an Alabama
Banned book for sexual content — that was banned
Only because the author’s last name was “Gay” 1 .
So, yeah, I don’t want to make inferences
About a state because it happens to be in the
South, I mean, I like New Orleans, I spent a
Good part of my childhood in southwest
Florida, and California’s far too south-
WEST, but they’re as liberal as they come.
So, yeah, I can’t really judge, so I don’t
Know what to think when I hear that
Alabama has allowed a “new” method of
Killing their prisoners. Okay, okay, I
Come from a state where capital punishment
Was repealed for over half of this millennium, so...
Hearing reports of an all-new execution piqued
My interest. I know that a lot of executions by
Lethal injection stopped because drug
Companies wouldn’t supply the drugs that
Contribute to killing... (Sorry, it’s technical
Explanation time: with lethal injections, they
1st use a drug to make them feel good, the 2nd
drug stops the nervous system from telling
the muscles to move — to stop the writhing,
violent shaking or thrashing, because nobody
wants to see someone fighting to survive in
their execution... then the 3rd drug kills them.)
Some may assume drug companies wanted more
Moolah for the drugs, but I knew for a fact that
One company stopped supplying these drugs
Because they didn’t support lethal injection.
But none of this matters when the penal
System wants to kill their prisoners and they
Can’t get the drugs to make it happen... So,
Alabama came up with a plan, they thought,
Hey, we’re going about this the wrong way,
We can induce death by depleting oxygen,
And hey, why not make them inhale nitrogen,
Because if nitrous oxide cam make you laugh,
Then this has to be the humane way to go
(You know, humane for killing people) —
All that, and we won’t have to deal with those
Pesky drug companies again, having issues with
Killing people. Next question: is this safer?
Maybe.
Is it less painful?
...For whom?
Oh, wait, I’m playing interrogator and
Inquisitor at the same time, these lines are
Blurring and I’m losing the focus of this story.
I think the point was that we didn’t want to
Hurt the prisoner while we were killing them.
(Let that sink into you head for a moment.)
But the thing is, with those drugs in lethal
Injection, they numbed you first, then they
Stopped you from fighting back, and now...
The prisoner gets a bag over their head for
The nitrogen, and nothing for the sudden
Asphyxiation they feel when they lose all the
Oxygen from their body. Now, I’ve never
Asked you to imagine what it feels like to be
Drugged to sleep, but think about having a
Bag over your head, while fully conscious,
Losing oxygen, then the ability to breathe.
While conscious. Imagine it. Just try.
Because although the state said it would be
Painless with “unconsciousness in seconds,”
After the Alabama Attorney General called
Their 1st nitrogen gas execution “textbook,”
Witnesses disagreed, when the execution
Lasted over 30 minutes as they watched
Kenneth Smith, conscious for minutes, before
Writhing on the gurney for two minutes,
as he was “violently shaking, thrashing.”
Alabama reporter Lee Hedgepeth even said,
“I’ve never seen such a violent ... means of
Execution.” 2
—
Wait, maybe I’m dwelling on this too much.
It isn’t this journalist’s job to focus so much
On the recent news, that you may never have
Even heard of... But wait a minute, maybe that is
Journalism Janet’s job, to give you the news. For
I could go on about the storied history and illustrious
Past of Birmingham, I could go on about how
Even though they have so little Gulf coast, they
Rave about their Gulf shores. Eat their peanuts
While raving about their college football — but
Watch out for snails, because they have the
Most snails of any U.S. state — by far. But,
Wait a minute — NASA’s Space Camp is in
Huntsville. The first rocket sent to the moon
Was built there, I mean, how cool is that?
And if you look up Alabama news online,
Nitrogen execution is nowhere to be found.
So, maybe it’s just that journalism bug that
Wants to research this, because... if I don’t,
Who will. Maybe it doesn’t occur to the world
to learn about this, only to this inquiring mind, so,
Let me leave you with this. States like Nebraska,
Mississippi and Oklahoma are also interested in
This asphyxiation method, since they also cannot
find the drugs to kill their prisoners (so many
To kill, so little time...) — and let me quote
Nebraska State Senator Loren Lippincott:
“If given this option, we are certain that the
Nebraska Department of Corrections will use
This method to humanely give justice to
Victims.” [Editor’s note: “justice” in this
Context means killing someone. In this case,
Killing someone isn’t murder, it’s “justice.”]
Oh, there I go again, interjecting commentary
Instead of relaying the news. If you wanted
Mindless, I could tell you that windshield wipers
Were invented in Alabama. Alabama’s state
Animal is the black bear, and btw, because of
Animal cruelty laws, it’s illegal to “wrestle”
Bears in Alabama. Mobile, Alabama, used to
Be the capital of Louisiana, and Mardi Gras
First occurred in Mobile. Speaking of drinking,
Alabama is the only U.S. state to have an
Alcoholic beverage as its official drink.
—
It’s funny, I thought I could start and end this
With this cute little tie-in to Mardi Gras
And leave it at that, but when you really want to
Know the full story, with more research,
You’ll be surprised at what you might find.
I thought I could wrap this up without talking
More about Alabama’s stance post-Roe V. Wade,
Put a bow on this and say it’s all done, but I just
Heard on the news that after a patient wandered
Into an IVF cryogenic (frozen) “nursery” and
Accidentally “dropped” and embryo vial, one
Couple sued, but a lower court ruled embryos
Could not be defined as people or children, and
Dismissed the wrongful death claim... so they
Took it to Alabama’s State Supreme Court in
Montgomery, and they “ruled that frozen embryos
can be considered children under state law3 (the
Court document even referred to the couple as
“next friends” of the “deceased embryo/minor4”).
This Supreme Court ruling granting fertilized eggs
The same rights as children, leads to Alabama
Hospitals halting IVF treatments to impregnate
Women as more dominoes continue to fall, when
No other state has given personhood to fertilized
Eggs5 — I mean, even strict states won’t prosecute
Problemed pregnancies before the 24th week.
This slanted ruling now limits the availability
Of modern health care6 to people who need it...
I see people struggling in Alabama now, not
Because of the destruction of the right to an
Abortion, but because they want to have kids,
But now their court system — and doctors —
Tell them they’re now stuck, and can’t.
Here’s a new twist: after a third IFV clinic in
Alabama halted services because of this ruling,
Gabby, an Auburn, AL potential mother,
decided to ship her embryos to — wait for it —
Texas, so she could be implanted and have a baby.7
Then again, she might not be able to do this, for
Now that embryos are children, the companies
Handing the embryo transfers are unsure of the
Legal ramifications of shipping children across
State lines, so they are halting their service too.
If you’re heard me before, you might assume that
All I’m interested in is giving women the right to an
Abortion — but this overturning is so much more.
Just ask young couples in Alabama with difficulty
having children, now that the state is stopping them.
This fiasco still unfolds, but I don’t know how to
Fight this, as the dominoes are continuing to fall.
For the more I learn, the more I fear how comfortable
People are with the authoritarian state their government
Is turning into. People have asked their government to
Make decisions for everyone, and they didn’t realize
How badly these decisions would affect them. In telling
the government to do the thinking for all the people,
they didn’t realize how much they would lose too.
1 https://www.al.com/news/2024/02/levar-burton-addresses-book-flagged-by-alabama-library-because-authors-last-name-is-gay.html
2 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-ag-calls-first-nitrogen-gas-execution-textbook-witnesses-say-i-rcna135810
3 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/alabama-supreme-court-rules-frozen-embryos-can-be-considered-children-under-state-law
4 https://publicportal-api.alappeals.gov/courts/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/cms/case/
343D203A-B13D-463A-8176-C46E3AE4F695/docketentrydocuments/E3D95592-3CBE-4384-AFA6-063D4595AA1D
5 https://www.npr.org/2024/02/21/1232827220/alabamas-high-court-rules-frozen-embryos-are-children-under-state-law
6 https://apnews.com/article/alabama-supreme-court-from-embryos-161390f0758b04a7638e2ddea20df7ca
7 https://www.wdbj7.com/2024/02/22/alabama-hospital-pauses-ivf-treatments-wake-ruling-saying-frozen-embryos-are-children/
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