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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