In this country,although laws governing the application of the death penalty have undergone many changes since biblical times, the punishment endures, and controversy has never been greater. A prisoner's death wish cannot grant a right not otherwise possessed.
Abolitionists maintain that the state has no right to kill anyone.
The right to reject life imprisonment and choose death should be respected, but it changes nothing for those who oppose the death at the hands of the state. The death penalty is irrational- a fact that should carry considerable weight with rationalists. State killings are morally bankrupt. Humanity becomes associated with murderers when it replicate their deeds. The state should never have the power to murder its subjects.