# US accuses Canada of Organ Harvesting **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574 "2026-01-11T22:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/1 "2026-01-11T22:14:45Z")
I saw this posted on Facebook today from the official account of the US Department of Health and Human Services: > **[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/HHS/photos/as-hhs-works-to-restore-trust-in-americas-organ-procurement-organizations-deputy/1322553919910528/)** > > As HHS works to restore trust in America’s Organ Procurement Organizations, Deputy Sec. O’Neill calls Canada’s program uniquely problematic as the... Canada has a program called Medical Assistance in Dying which allows people in chronic insufferable pain or with a terminal prognosis to go out at a time of their choosing. Canada, like virtually all modern societies, supports organ donation through a registration system to indicate a personal choice to donate organs or not. In my opinion, there is not a single reason to not donate your organs once they are of no use. I’m proudly registered as an organ donor and have been since I got my drivers licence at 16. Now HHS is using this as another wedge issue against socialized medicine. I’m not sure how long until they invade to liberate us from forced organ donation! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/2 "2026-01-11T22:25:08Z")
I had not seen this but it absolutely typifies the ways that the right-wing lunatic-sphere distorts facts to fit their own concept of reality and their own agenda. You must of course be absolutely free to buy a gun and shoot your neighbour and/or shoot yourself in the head, but a dignified medically assisted end to a painful terminal illness is absolutely a no-no in their crazy perverted minds! ---
**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:** [January 11, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/3 "2026-01-11T23:08:43Z")
Just for the record, here’s a link to the actual site, not facebook: > **[HHS official blasts Canada for organ donations from MAID](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/4411705/hhs-jim-oneill-canada-assisted-suicide-organ-donation-strange-new-horror/)** > > HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill called out Canada for how its permissive physician-assisted suicide program fuels organ donation rates. And here’s Allside’s evaluation of the Washington Examiner as “Leans Right” [https://www.allsides.com/news-source/washington-examiner-media-bias](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/washington-examiner-media-bias) Of course, judge as you will, but from the cited article: > O’Neill, who says he has opposed physician-assisted suicide for his entire career, told the _Washington Examiner_ that HHS will continue to pay attention to “everything that touches or affects the supply of organs or the integrity or pressure that could be put on patients and families,” including pressure to remove life support. So the HHS official walked into this with a long-held axe to grind. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/4 "2026-01-11T23:23:05Z")
Thanks for the link. O’Neill conveniently ignore the fact that more organs are available precisely because the deaths are under medical supervision resulting in more organs being viable for transplant. ---
**Author:** ![betonbill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b782af/32.png) [@betonbill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betonbill)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/5 "2026-01-11T23:51:11Z")
If an assisted suicide involves the use of drugs, doesn’t that contaminate the organs? Also, I was under the impression that transplants had to be done while the patient was still living, i.e., brain dead. Please correct me if I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/6 "2026-01-12T00:04:04Z")
From the thread title, I halfway expected the White House to claim to have woken up in a bathtub packed with ice…. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/7 "2026-01-12T00:16:02Z")
> [@betonbill](#): > > If an assisted suicide involves the use of drugs, doesn’t that contaminate the organs? Also, I was under the impression that transplants had to be done while the patient was still living, i.e., brain dead. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I am a layperson, but I understand that many organs can be used postmortem. There are some additional details on the drugs used at [Clarification about the medications used in a MAID provision  | Dying With Dignity Canada](https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/blog/clarification-about-the-medications-used-in-a-maid-provision/) ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/8 "2026-01-12T00:18:55Z")
> [@betonbill](#): > > If an assisted suicide involves the use of drugs, doesn’t that contaminate the organs? Googling this a bit, it depends on the organ. This was published in November 2025: > **[First successful cardiac allograft donation and transplantation after medical...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40582651/)** > > First successful cardiac allograft donation and transplantation after medical assistance in dying (MAiD) I oppose Canada’s MAiD being adopted where I live for reasons in this link that now seems mostly behind a pay wall: > **[Canada Is Killing Itself](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/09/canada-euthanasia-demand-maid-policy/683562/)** > > The country gave its citizens the right to die. Doctors are struggling to keep up with demand. However, organ transplantation is a poor argument against MAiD. I also do not think it is the role of the U.S. government to criticize Canadian internal affairs, and especially not in such a ugly manner. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/9 "2026-01-12T00:25:12Z")
As I’m fond of saying, I’m far _less_ appalled by the blithe way in which MAGA lies to its constituency than I am about how ready the constituency is to declare every MAGA lie – no matter how flagrant, consequential, destructive, egregious, or asinine – to be The Unerring Word of the Lord. > Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. ― George Carlin [Yes, _median_ would be the more accurate descriptor here, but I love Carlin and would be grateful if we’d collectively give him a Mulligan here] ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/10 "2026-01-12T01:24:00Z")
MAID and organ donation are separate things, despite this attempt at conflation. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/11 "2026-01-12T01:33:35Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You must of course be absolutely free to buy a gun and shoot your neighbour and/or shoot yourself in the head, but a dignified medically assisted end to a painful terminal illness is absolutely a no-no in their crazy perverted minds! The Right wing has always believed that suffering is a moral good (especially when it’s someone else). It’s a given that they think that people they’d categorize as “godless unAmerican liberal pedophiles” _should_ die as slowly and agonizingly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/12 "2026-01-12T01:44:14Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The Right wing has always believed that suffering is a moral good (especially when it’s someone else).- How typical they refuse to do the moral good. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/13 "2026-01-12T01:51:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > How typical they refuse to do the moral good. I mean, these _are_ people who believe in things like “the sin of empathy”. They have an inverted morality. Their good is everyone else’s evil, and vice-versa. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/14 "2026-01-13T16:09:25Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > MAID and organ donation are separate things, despite this attempt at conflation And both of them are the free choice of the person involved. If I don’t want to donate my organs, and I want to drag out my death kicking and screaming all the way, I’m allowed to do that. Opposition to these options just reduces my freedom of choice, it doesn’t protect me in any way. ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/15 "2026-01-13T18:08:18Z")
90+% of being an American “conservative” is intentionally misunderstanding simple words and concepts. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/16 "2026-01-13T18:45:23Z")
It’s a weird attack, because MAiD is legal in 12 U.S. states plus D.C. And Oregon ruled a few years ago that it is unconstitutional to refuse assisted suicide to people from other states who travel to Oregon, which effectively makes it legal for any US resident with the means to travel. This isn’t some uniquely Canada thing. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/17 "2026-01-13T22:56:33Z")
I don’t think it’s weird - I think it’s very much a part of the ongoing efforts in the USA to make Christianity (or rather, a very _American_ version of it) the de jure religion which is very close to the hearts of a lot of the Religious Right. Suicide isn’t just a choice after all, it’s _evil_ from their POV. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/18 "2026-01-13T23:43:39Z")
I just mean it’s weird to attack Canada for it when there are already plenty of godless commies doing it right here in the U.S. And not that it’s weird they’d attack Canada – of course they’re going to throw shit at any target they can, whether it makes sense or not. It’s just weird for any thinking person. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/19 "2026-01-14T00:00:31Z")
If they were the usual sort of thinking person, sure. If they’re thinking about another pretext to annex Canada though… Who knows. I occasionally try to wrap my mind around things from the POV of MAGA, but since our visions of reality have diverged so much, that I increasingly can’t (or, often, _won’t_) manage it. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574/20 "2026-01-14T00:06:30Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I occasionally try to wrap my mind around things from the POV of MAGA I can’t get my head that far up my ass. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-accuses-canada-of-organ-harvesting/1026574.md?page=2)