Every day 16 or 17 people die in this country waiting for an organ donation that would have saved their lives, but never came. That’s 16 or 17 mothers, fathers, children, friends. Considering that 6 or 7 **thousand ** people die every day in the US, this is a travesty. Why isn’t donation assumed? How is it that survivors who couldn’t be bothered to even learn about the deceased’s stance on donation can decide whether or not harvest takes place? Sometimes even people who openly *wanted * and *planned * to donate can’t do so because meddling survivors object. EVERY eligible body should be harvested, automatically. We could even have an opt-out system for people who were really, really against the idea for whatever reason. But I gotta say, that would be a grudging thing on my part. I just don’t understand the anti-donator stance. What grand plans do you have for your lungs as you’re rotting in the ground, you selfish fucks? Is maintaining an intact corpse really more important than giving some poor little kid a chance at life?
Fuck. It’s hard enough watching a loved one slowly die, without knowing that a half-dozen or more of the very thing which could save thier life is being incinerated or burned just across town. It’s disgusting.
Yes, it makes sense in terms of lives saved etc, but it’s tantamount to confiscation of property. That someone else desparately needs the property and the legal owner (next of kin) intends to dispose of it doesn’t (IMO) justify confiscating it.
I get your anger, but I have to say I cringe at the idea that the state would impose anything automatically that involves something so sensitive. FYI, I’m an organ donor, but I’m also agnostic and can’t imagine God really needs my body once I’m dead. However, I also have respect for other people’s belief systems that mandate very explicit burial rituals that involve an intact body. For me, it’s far more palatable to carry a little card around in my wallet saying that I’ve agreed in advance to be harvested than having an opt out system.
But if there were religious rules against it, why couldn’t they then opt-out? I think it’s great that you’re a donor. But what happens if you die and your relatives object? Aren’t they stealing too? Stealing life from someone you intended to give it to?
It’s a thought I’ve had myself. Rather than non-donation being the norm and people making the effort to inform their relatives and/or carry card to inform of their wishes to donate; more organs would be garnished if the situation were reversed. Make donation the norm, then people who object, for whatever reason, could make their wishes known. I bet there are a lot of people who wouldn’t mind donating, but just never take the effort to alert anyone to the facct. People who wished to prevent themselves being harvested would be much more motivated to do soemthing baout it.
It’s a thought I’ve had myself. Rather than non-donation being the norm and people making the effort to inform their relatives and/or carry card to inform of their wishes to donate; more organs would be garnished if the situation were reversed. Make donation the norm, then people who object, for whatever reason, could make their wishes known. I bet there are a lot of people who wouldn’t mind donating, but just never take the effort to alert anyone to the facct. People who wished to prevent themselves being harvested would be much more motivated to do something about it.
Obviously the system would have to be opt-out for religious reasons. What baffles me, though, is people who would say no to being an organ donor for any other reason. They ask you when you get your driver’s license. What I would like is not having to tell your next of kin, etc. If I sign my license when it says I’m a donor, I’m a donor.
While i tend to agree that taking someone’s organs against their specific objections would be quite wrong, i do like the idea of an opt-out system where the default is that you donate your organs.
My mother is absolutely convinced that if you are in an accident, the doctors won’t try very hard to save you if you are an organ donor. It worries me, because even though my driver’s license says that I am a donor, I belive that the hospital staff confirms with the next of kin. My mother would probably refuse permission to harvest my organs.
A number of countries in Europe have opt-out systems, and they are often said to have greatly increased the number of donations, although I don’t have a cite to hand.
Hmm. I wasn’t aware my relatives could opt me out! Thankfully my mother and I are on the same page with this one. However, I’ll make damn sure certain any partner I have understands, in no uncertain terms, that my organs are to be donated upon my death.
The problem I have with the opt out system is that it puts the burden on people who don’t want to donate, and I think that, sadly, there are too many for whom this is a reality. I’d far rather have everyone who wants to do it agree to with a card, and have that consent be non-negotiable.
I’ve sat every member of my family down and told them that doctors can take anything they want from the shell I leave behind. I told them to put aside any problems they may have and to abide by MY wishes for MY body.
I also think that there should be a opt-out system as opposed to a buy-in system. There shouldn’t be any necessity to give any reasons though. You just sign a form saying “No, leave my body in tact after I die”.
I’ve heard this suggestion before and it makes me a little twitchy. We’re still a civil society, after all. We may imprison them, but taking away their right to mandate how their remains are treated after life? A little too much for my liking.
Let me get this straight. You want to rip out their lungs to satisfy your personal pet issue, and you call them selfish fucks? I sincerely hope no one informs you that people can survive on one lung.
[QUOTE=Liberal]
Let me get this straight. You want to rip out their lungs to satisfy your personal pet issue, and you call them selfish fucks? I sincerely hope no one informs you that people can survive on one lung.[/QUOTE
I’m fairly certain she was referring to recently deceased people.