The United States Catholic Bishops’ Conference stated in 1977:
The transplantation of organs from living donors is morally permissible when the anticipated benefit to the recipient is proportionate to the harm done to the donor, provided that the loss of such organ(s) does not deprive the donor of life itself nor of the functional integrity of his body.
Postmortem examinations must not begin until death is morally certain. Vital organs, that is, organs necessary to sustain life, may not be removed until death has taken place. The determination of the time of death must be made in accordance with responsible and commonly accepted scientific criteria. In accordance with current medical practice, to prevent any conflict of interest, the dying patient’s doctor or doctors should ordinarily be distinct from the transplant team.
Powerful medical organizations that advocate organ donation do not always support the morally correct position. Take, for example, the flip-flop stance of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical Association (E-J Council AMA). In 1988, the Council concluded that it is “ethically acceptable” to use organs from anencephalic [6] neonates only after they have died (AMA “Reports,” 1992, vol. 1, 40-52). In 1994 the same Council reversed its position by stating that it is ethically acceptable to transplant the organs of anencephalic infants even before they die.
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0019.html
"Since you seem to think there is an “unscrupulous surgeon” just around to corner you are avoiding all contac with those in the healthcare profession. You never know when a Nurse Practioner might slip you a roofie and you’ll wind up w/o kidneys in a hotel bathtub.
I agree it’s your right not to be an organ donor and I really don’t care who is or who isn’t. What is insulting is the implication that those who take oaths to care for you are out organ stealing. You sound just like an Obamacare proponent."
Not so “brain dead”
* Brain dead’ woman recovers after husband refuses to withdraw life support
* Woman Diagnosed as “Brain Dead” Walks and Talks after Awakening
* ‘Brain dead’ Quebec woman wakes up after family refuses organ donation
* Doctor Says about “Brain Dead” Man Saved from Organ Harvesting - “Brain Death is Never Really Death”
* Doctors Who Almost Dissected Living Patient Confess Ignorance about Actual Moment of Death
* New study questions “brain-death” criterion for organ donation
* Coma Recovery After 19 Years Poses Questions About Terri Schiavo
* Polish Man Wakes from 19-Year “Coma”, Talks and Expected to Walk Soon
* Man Wakes from Two-Year Coma – was Aware and Remembers Everything
* Boy in “Hopeless” Vegetative State Awakens and Steadily Improves
* Commentary: The Significance of that Case of the Man Trapped in a “Coma” for 23 Years
* Girl Once Comatose and Scheduled for Euthanasia Will Testify against Attacker
* ‘Comatose’ UK Man Chooses Life by Moving Eyes
* Woman’s Waking After Brain Death Raises Many Questions About Organ Donation
* Russian Surgeons Removing Organs Saying Patients Almost Dead Anyway
* Denver Coroner Rules “Homicide” in Organ-Donor Case
I’m unchecking the box on my drivers liscense next time i renew it, my family can approve the organ transplant after my body has ceased to live, i’m not leaving it up to a doctor with an agenda of greed.