Organ Donation

[carmenchristi]

So today I filled out my voter registration form, and attached to it was an organ donor form. I didn't fill it out because I have heard some things which have caused me to question the morality of organ donation.

I was taught in Catholic school that organ donation is against Church teaching because the person is technically (although artificially and without any hope for survival) still alive when the organs are extracted. Basically, I was told that a person who is about to donate organs is the same as a person in a vegetative state. It would obviously be immoral to extract organs from a person who is still alive, regardless of the lives it could save.

I don't know anything about how the process actually works medically, but is there some official Church teaching on this?

Thank you!

[cappie]

Organ donation is covered in the catechism.

2296 Organ transplants are in conformity with the moral law if the physical and psychological dangers and risks to the donor are proportionate to the good sought for the recipient. Organ donation after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as a expression of generous solidarity. It is not morally acceptable if the donor or his proxy has not given explicit consent. Moreover, it is not morally admissible to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of a human being, even in order to delay the death of other persons.

Pope John Paul II wrote on the subject. He stated that “a health worker professionally responsible for ascertaining death can use these [neurological] criteria in each individual case as the basis for arriving at that degree of assurance in ethical judgment which moral teaching describes as ‘moral certainty.’” He added that this “moral certainty is considered the necessary and sufficient basis for an ethically correct course of action.”

Determining death in the context of organ donation is challenging and will likely remain controversial for the simple reason that death must be determined quickly lest all transplantable organs die with the human being. Nevertheless, the decision to reject organ donation in the name of precaution is not without cost. Patients in need of an organ transplant will die years earlier than necessary, and families who often find organ donation consoling will be bereft of the opportunity to find some meaning in their loss. We may not do evil that good may come of it, but neither should we bury our talents out of fear.

[CatherineM]

I'd also like to mention that in the US and Canada, even if you sign a donor card, your next of kin makes the final decision. Therefore, it is important to also discuss your desire to be a donor with the person who would be making the ultimate decision. If for example, you are unmarried, that would be your parents. If your parents are against the idea of organ donation, you can prepare a personal directive giving the authority over your end of life decisions to someone who will fulfill your wishes.