Posted on 08/26/2006 9:39:03 AM PDT by The Cuban
This morning, I renewed my driver's license. Of course, on the application they asked me if I wanted to donate my organs in the eventuality of my death.
Being an altruist by nature, my first reaction was, why not, it could help somebody. But then a fear crept into my head - what if I was seriously ill, and "they" decided to hasten my as of yet not-inevitable death to harvest my organs?
While my first reaction was that is absurd, I decided to chose "no" given the well grounded fear that in today's society, where life is given no meaning by medical "ethicists", someone could consider my death to be a convenient expedient.
I am angry. I know that by checking "yes", I could have possibly given someone a chance to survive in the future but chose not to do so to save myself.
I am angrier that I had to think in this manner, thanks to the culture of death.
I am angriest, that I am not the only one who has so decided, and that as a result I am convinced that people who could otherwise have been saved have died as a result of an artificially low number of organ donations.
Just another day on the slippery slope.
You can be both altruistic but also protect your human dignity.
"I am angriest, that I am not the only one who has so decided, and that as a result I am convinced that people who could otherwise have been saved have died as a result of an artificially low number of organ donations.
Just another day on the slippery slope."
i've checked no too but for somewhat different reasons.
i don't mind donating my organs, but here, if i were to
check yes, i am relinquishing control of my entire body.
i could literally be chopped up willy nilly in pieces and
there's not a darned thing my kids could do about it.
i'd just like to have some say about the donations being
made so i'm clear about my wishes to my family. i'd rather
put those decisions in their hands.
The danger in our state is that YOU or your estate will be CHARGED to remove your organs if the donee has not the funds or refuses to pay for the organ transplant. Which vindicates the proverb "no good deed goes unpunished".
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Thanks,
Its not a faint possibility in a Blue State, and given that such a decision is so final, the deterrent effect of its infinitesimal probability is greatly magnified.
When I die I'm leaving my body to science fiction.
Read the "Gill the A.R.M." series of SciFi books - or "Bill the Galatic Hero" if you want a look at that future.
And that future may already be here, with reports of/arrests for body parts ripped off (no pun BTW) from funeral homes and hospitals.
Bbbrrrrrrrr, crazy.
People are "kept alive" when they are organ donors until a team can be put together to harvest the organs. "They" don't have any reason to hasten your demise.
Unless things change a lot, select "organ donor".
Cool! I dig honesty man.
Donate your organs now and avoid the wait. Just a thought.
http://www.transweb.org/myths/myths.htm
"Myth #3
"If I'm in an accident and the hospital knows I want to be a donor, the doctors won't try to save my life!"
Reality
The medical team treating you is separate from the transplant team.
The organ procurement organization (OPO) is not notified until all lifesaving efforts have failed and death has been determined. The OPO does not notify the transplant team until your family has consented to donation."
Your medical team's job is to save your life-if they cannot, they have failed, and believe me, they don't want to do that. They have no vested interest in procuring your organs. If the sanctity of life is important to you, please reconsider.
I read the biik "Stiff- the curious lives of Human Cadevers". Very fascinating. The gratiude and reverence that medical students have for the bodies with which they work; the surgeons who have a chance to learn new techniques before trying them on a living person...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393324826/sr=8-1/qid=1156610942/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-5298197-9353466?ie=UTF8
"i am relinquishing control of my entire body.
i could literally be chopped up willy nilly in pieces and
there's not a darned thing my kids could do about it.
i'd just like to have some say about the donations being
made so i'm clear about my wishes to my family. i'd rather
put those decisions in their hands."
They cannot remove you from life support or harvest your organs without your family's consent, unless you have a living will that allows them to.
I have also opted out of organ donation on my DL.......but for entirely different reasons than yours.
I am a smoker, smokers are considered lower than snake bellies when it comes to a place in line for an organ donation.....so if I am going to be discriinated against in the possibility of receiving a life saving transplant, I will be just as discriminatory when it comes to offering the same.
As mentined by others, I also have a living will, and my family is aware of my wishes when it comes to organ donation.in my case it is non-smokers need not apply.
I've read it too. Excellent book.
I'm an organ donor, because I intend to be cremated in any case. It doesn't matter whether the body will be "intact" or not.
Great idea!! I can donate my appendicts and tonsils and my extra liver (cause I only need one).
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