I'm Not An Organ Donor.

Primordial Slack ^ | 5/12/2012 | Joan Varga

[JoanVarga]

If that plain statement offends you, then you can take the measure of just how far your thinking has been influenced by the “Imagine” crowd. Specifically, the “imagine no possessions” set.

You have no right to my organs after I’m gone. Sorry. I have every right to be this way without being judged as selfish. Here I draw the line on the march of the boundary-challenged fascists: No. Hands off. Find some other way to save a life that doesn’t involve the inherent corruption of the medical profession when an unscrupulous and hardened surgeon is tempted with my shiny, perfectly functioning kidneys while I’m under the knife for an appendectomy.

Mine.

I’m fine with being an organ receiver from a willing donor. I’m fine with willingly offering surplus parts of my own while I’m still alive. But I am not a passive donor. It’s my living, thinking, breathing choice while I’m alive and my fervent wish to be respected after I’m gone. Mine.

There’s something that disturbs me about the push for everyone to be an organ donor. People that wish to make their flesh a commodity while they’re alive or dead have that choice. It’s when we give that power to another that I worry.

If you own it, be careful to whom you would offer it. Unknown future entities (i.e., gov’t doctors) do not inspire confidence.

I'm not alone in this, apparently. A friend noted in the comments to this post:

I began recommending to my kids and other youngsters that they take up smoking.

Each one has responded with varying degrees of unbelieving protest. The smartest expected that there must be something else I had to say, and so they asked why I would recommend that they put their health at risk?

“Yes, in a world where longevity risks are static, you would indeed increase your risk of dying early by being a smoker. On the other hand, should you ever be in need of life-saving medical care, and decisions about saving your life is being weighed, then it will be too late to recognize the value at auction for smoke free lungs and other organs. Cannibalism has a whole new meaning in this brave new world."

[Dajjal]

I have a friend who was in a coma for several days. She was not unconscious; she was in intense pain at every moment and could hear everything going on around her; but she was unable to move in any way, and seemed to everyone to be nearly dead.

The doctors at the hospital assumed she was unconscious, and spoke freely with her family about how they should sign some papers so that they could harvest her organs as soon as possible, because when the body dies there is always some damage to the organ, so it would be best if they could remove them while the blood was still flowing.

Fortunately for her, the family did not give in, and eventually she came out of the coma.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Normally this would be a Death Cultivation Ping. But this time the better label might be "Death Harvesting Awareness."

There’s something that disturbs me about the push for everyone to be an organ donor. People that wish to make their flesh a commodity while they’re alive or dead have that choice. It’s when we give that power to another that I worry.

If you own it, be careful to whom you would offer it. Unknown future entities (i.e., gov’t doctors) do not inspire confidence.

[SunkenCiv]

I’ve always wanted to have a pet monkey, and... wait, what?

[JoanVarga]

Thanks for the ping, I think?

[Avoiding_Sulla]

LOL. Well, between Sunken Civ’s list(?#) and mine(~80), a lot of people were alerted. May have been that there was nothing left anyone wanted to say on a ghoulish subject.

[JoanVarga]

Vindication bump!