Cringe-worthy Doublespeak

OK, so death row inmate Clarence Allen (I'm refusing to participate in the "murderer gets their middle name listed" convention) wanted to be allowed to expire if he had another heart attack before his execution. This was refused. Now, I can see the prison wanting to preserve opportunities for clemency or making sure that sentences were carried out as intended. But I don't think you can justify it the way Vernell Crittendon did:

At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life.

Nope, we will respect life right up until we end it. If you want to be in favor of capital punishment, fine--I'm against it, for the record--but let's not pretend the system we have now treats all life as sacred. Perhaps "all life that has not committed horrible transgressions," but this attitude of pretending this is not state-sanctioned killing irritates me. Again, if you're ok with that as it is, fine. But come out and say it.