# MA legislators propose letting prisoners donate organs in exchange for reduced sentences **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136 "2023-02-01T03:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/1 "2023-02-01T03:06:37Z")
This one goes out to everyone who’s ever called me paranoid for believing that organ donation could be weaponized against the poor. > **[Mass. Prisoners Could Choose Between Freedom And Their Organs](https://www.levernews.com/mass-prisoners-could-choose-between-freedom-and-their-organs/)** > > A new bill would allow prisoners to get time off their sentence if they donate their organs or bone marrow. I’m absolutely horrified that anyone would even propose something this monstrously unethical, and I’m gobsmacked that it was two Democrats who introduced it. Trying to bribe or strongarm people into giving up their bodily autonomy opens up a massive slippery slope and is not something that any conscientious medical professional ought to involve themselves in. I hope this goes down in flames and takes their political careers with it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/2 "2023-02-01T03:18:32Z")
Jesus, this is sick and twisted beyond hope. > **[Inmates could donate organs to get out of prison early in proposed...](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article271871582.html)** > > “’Organs for reduced prison time’ is one of the most horrific policy ideas I have ever heard of,” one Boston resident said on Twitter. I had to find a second source, hoping the Lever was a crackpot site. ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/3 "2023-02-01T03:51:48Z")
Won’t fly. It is coersive. I cannot imagine any reputable institution allowing it. It would be like using prisoners for experimentation in exchange for ‘whatever’. Used to happen. Not now. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/4 "2023-02-01T03:59:21Z")
It’s not a “donation” if they’re receiving an actual benefit, it’s a sale. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/5 "2023-02-01T04:51:06Z")
Why not skip to the fucking end (since we’re in the pit and idea is so despicable) and just offer people literal “Get out of Jail Free” cards, $20k for a year off your sentence? Special value, $250k buys off a life sentence! I mean it’s increasingly clear that if you’re rich enough (and the right color/religion) you’re extremely unlikely to see more than token sentences, but why bother with the equivocating if this is the point we’re at? This is the sort of shit that makes the Purge look like a good idea at times. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/6 "2023-02-01T04:57:45Z")
I thought it was strictly illegal in the US to sell body parts. Anyway, that’s a horrible idea. I hope the people who proposed it get soundly defeated in their next election. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/7 "2023-02-01T05:36:15Z")
Well, the state is just another avenue to power. Perhaps the ultimate avenue to power. Is it surprising? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/8 "2023-02-01T05:51:52Z")
Just wait until capital punishment is carried out by complete disassembly of the condemned. Certainly, that would settle the ethical squeamishness about quid pro quo. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/9 "2023-02-01T05:53:46Z")
See the short story, _The Jigsaw Man_ by Larry Niven. It was written in 1967. The future is NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/10 "2023-02-01T06:03:24Z")
It’s about time that something like this happened. We will never solve the issue of imbalanced supply and demand for organs until we allow the free market to work. This is a step in that direction. The idiots who beat their breasts over alleged “unethicalness” of selling organs need to climb out of their ivory towers, and join the real world. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/11 "2023-02-01T06:04:54Z")
It was part of his _All The Myriad Ways_ collection, home of the infamous “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex” essay. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/12 "2023-02-01T06:06:46Z")
It is just A Modest Proposal, right? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/13 "2023-02-01T06:12:17Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > It’s about time that something like this happened. We will never solve the issue of imbalanced supply and demand for organs until we allow the free market to work. This is a step in that direction. The only direction this is a step in is towards a dystopia where going to urgent care for an infected hangnail results in you being vivisected because Elon Musk needs a new liver. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/14 "2023-02-01T06:14:49Z")
Sure. You’ll be singing a different tune when the penalty for trolling a messageboard is you getting your liver, kidneys, eyes and skin removed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/15 "2023-02-01T06:16:21Z")
Why would the leopards eat _his_ face? He supports them! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/16 "2023-02-01T06:32:04Z")
Meanwhile, in Bootb’s ideal world… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Sp-pU8TFsg0/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python - The Meaning of Life Live Organ Transplants") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-pU8TFsg0) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/17 "2023-02-01T07:44:54Z")
Looks to me like someone in Massachusetts thinks Niven’s _A Gift From Earth_ is a blueprint, not fiction. Also, I wonder what those legislators have said about China’s alleged harvesting of organs from prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/18 "2023-02-01T07:51:32Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Sure. You’ll be singing a different tune when the penalty for trolling a messageboard is you getting your liver, kidneys, eyes and skin removed. At least in this case the punishment would fit the crime. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/19 "2023-02-01T08:37:07Z")
[Here is an esssay on the Organ Procurement & Transportation Network](https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/professionals/by-topic/ethical-considerations/the-ethics-of-organ-donation-from-condemned-prisoners/)’s website on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136/20 "2023-02-01T23:03:39Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Sure. You’ll be singing a different tune when the penalty for trolling a messageboard is you getting your liver, kidneys, eyes and skin removed. Wait, I thought that’s how the mods got their boots! I always assumed the liver and kidneys were made into some form of delicious stew or pie, and that the eyes were stored in formalin in jars so they could gaze longingly upon the board from which they were removed. Then again, it would also explain why so many trocks are thin-skinned… no? I believe I’m supposed to say: “I’ll see myself out” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ma-legislators-propose-letting-prisoners-donate-organs-in-exchange-for-reduced-sentences/979136.md?page=2)