Organ Donation

     When Anna's organs are donated to people in need after she is declared braindead, she is saving the lives of other people - including her sister Kate. Organ donation is tricky in the sense that it does not always work. In Kate's case, it was likely that Anna's kidney would be a successful transplant because she was already the ideal donor in the sense that she was a perfect genetic match. However, most people are not so lucky as to have a perfect genetic match in this world.

      In my own life, I know a man in his late twenties who is in desperate need of a kidney transplant. Unlike Kate, he does not have a family member that is a match, so he is dependent on a stranger's willingness to give up one of their kidneys. The demand for kidneys is far higher than the supply, so most people are on dialysis while waiting for possibly the rest of their lives waiting for a transplant. Then if and when he does receive a transplant, there is no guarantee that it will work; the patient's body may reject the unknown organ and believe that it is a threat. On the other hand, there are cases where the transplant is successful and a life is saved as a result. Kidney transplants is just one example of donation in which there can be a living donor.

     Unfortunately, many times organ donation relies on people who have recently died. Many have experienced this type when they get their driver's license. Either people can opt to be an organ donor or not. Someone may ask, where does the controversy lie? The answer to that is when there are cases where someone who is a viable organ donor never designated their feelings on organ donation to their family. The family is then forced to make a decision on behalf of the patient. While I personally believe that organ donation is always a good thing, not everyone agrees. Some people believe that organ donation is a mutilation of the body and should not be done. Thus, lies the controversy.
     As I did in my previous post, I will address this controversy by looking to the Bible and seeing what is to be said. In the same way designer babies are never mentioned in the Bible, organ donation is not either. However, there are countless verses in the Bible that deal with donation and gifts. One such example is 2 Corinthians 9:7-8, which states, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." While the Bible does not condone forcing people to give a gift, if people do so in a cheerful and without reluctance, that gift would surely be blessed.
    Where does this leave people that have not expressed their feelings toward organ donation? At that point, the donor is no longer alive, and therefore, the responsibility is entrusted to the closest family member. If that person then chooses to donate the patients organs in a cheerful way, then it is an acceptable thing to do. However, if other people try to guilt the family into donating the organs, it should not be done. Even though this does not give a definite decision one way or another, I believe that applying this verse to this situation will shed light on each individual circumstance.