Presumed consent for organ donation

8-2-07 | edcoil

[trumandogz]

The law should be:

Those who are unwilling to donate their organs should not be permitted to receive donated organs.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

What about children? They aren’t asked to donate organs, they don’t sign organ donor cards. Should they be excluded from life-saving medical care because they are underage and unable to give legal consent to donation?

[Dianna]

Eventually a doctor came in and said it was time to talk about organ donation. To say the least this put an added burden on the parents, who wants to think of their child being parted out? It might be better to just do it.

When our son died, my husband and I were disappointed that we could not donate his organs. In our case, the question wouldn't have been a burden, probably because we were both comfortable with the idea of donation for ourselves. It seemed natural to extend that to our son.

We were able to donate some things (skin, ligaments and such).

[KarlInOhio]

I had a friend years ago who believed that when you die and are buried, you had better have all of your organs. She thought you would need them in the afterlife.

Opening up the gates of heaven is what the appendix is really for. No appendix = welcome to hell.

I am very tempted to renounce my decision to be an organ donor if this goes through. The presumption that your body belongs to the State should leave anyone who loves liberty more than a little queasy.

[Lurker]

Next time I pray, I'll put in a good word to it working out that way for you.

That's mighty kind of you. Hopefully we'll meet up on the other side.

Best,

L

[trumandogz]

No, only adults who refuse to donate their organs should be excluded from receiving organs.

[CholeraJoe]

I am in favor of presumed consent only in cases where the individual is not wearing a seatbelt or a helmet, or in the case of a child not properly secured in a child safety seat or booster seat. Individuals driving in excess of posted speed limits, too fast for road conditions, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol should also be presumed to have consented to organ donation. Oh, and those in the country illegally.

Did I miss anyone?

[wolfcreek]

“My wife told him he wasn’t very generous”

LOL!

The truth is, if your not in the room when they do the autopsy or embalming, you really don’t know what’s missing.

[BenLurkin]

Dr. Peter Lawler declared that the very idea that people own their organs was an "offense [to] dignity."

Of course you own your own organs! If you don't then who does?

As for dignity -- it is an offense to dignity to suggest that your organs are NOT your own.

[Brujo]

Those who are unwilling to donate their organs should not be permitted to receive donated organs.

Interesting. Should those who do not donate blood be allowed to get transfusions?

[ishabibble]

Hi Joe:

That’s some SELECTION process you’ve got there...

[Kirkwood]

“But laws against compensating your family ensures that all parties profit from the transplant except the donor.”

So what? Those providing donation services need compensation to keep their services available - my family doesn’t need that money, whatever there might be of it. I have life insurance and a will to provide for them. My heart, my corneas, and my liver are the last gifts I can give to a complete stranger, maybe even to you or someone you love. That to me seems like a noble thing to do and something my family would prefer over money. I get the satisfaction of knowing before I die that I have a chance of helping several families with sick loved ones. You can’t buy that at any price.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I intend to wear my organs completely out!

[LongElegantLegs]

Can someone explain the organ donation process to me? I was under the impression that they didn’t wait until you were dead to start removing organs.

[dblshot]

I am sure a great deal of good comes from organ donations and in the long run the parents may have some solace from helping others. In this particular case, life support was maintaining the viability of the organs but degradation was of course a reality. I don’t think the parents were ready yet and had not received counseling. So maybe a law giving doctors a right to harvest organs is something we can talk about. Of course safeguards need to be included in that conversation. Religious concerns could be handled with an opt out provision, like a do not resuscitate thing.

My condolences on the loss of your son.

[mission-so-possible]

I agree with edcoil - the doctors should come first, then anyone else who believes in this.... They will KILL you for your organs.
Watch movie clip at: www.myfoxny.com - search using words - organ donation controversy. This young man was cut on 29 minutes before being pronounced dead! Note: he did NOT have strokes! Do you get the picture? This young man doesn’t have his freedom anymore because he doesn’t have his life anymore. And he doesn’t have his LIFE anymore because he lost his FREEDOM first.