Tennessee is moving forward with executing a man on death row next week, despite concerns that a heart implant may prolong his death or worsen his pain.

On Thursday, the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that had mandated that Byron Black’s heart implant be deactivated so that the device couldn’t try to revive him during his execution.

Black’s Aug. 5 execution might have been delayed under the lower court ruling, since Nashville General Hospital, which had managed Black’s implant, refused to disable it. However, the state supreme court ruled that Black can be executed with the device still intact, arguing that the Davidson County Chancery Court did not have the authority to create rules that could effectively delay the execution.

The ruling came hours after faith l

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