Oklahoma bill would allow use of nitrogen gas in executions

An execution chamber.

Oklahoma legislators believe they have come up with a good backup plan in case lethal injection isn't a viable option for an execution: Nitrogen gas hypoxia.

The Oklahoma Senate sent the governor a bill that says the new method can be used if lethal injection drugs become unavailable. Gov. Mary Fallin (R) is a supporter of the death penalty, but her office would not comment on the bill. Executions in the state are on hiatus, following a botched execution last year that took 43 minutes to complete. The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering if the state's lethal injection method using three separate drugs is constitutional.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.