Home Learn about the death penalty in the United States.
It is one of our tenets to do no harm. Dr. Jonathan Weisbuch, author of the original resolution, had asked the AMA to recommend to the National Governors' Association that all executions be halted until questions are answered regarding the availability of DNA evidence, the quality of legal representation and the effect on the judicial system when innocent defendants are executed. It is one of our tenets to do no harm. Several physicians at the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago said the death penalty is a legal issue, not a medical one. Dr. Steven Thorson, of Fort Collins, Colo., also told the delegates that he feared a temporary halt would lead to a permanent moratorium - something he said wasn't the AMA's business.