{"id":285847,"date":"2023-02-24T10:38:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T16:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=285847"},"modified":"2023-02-23T19:44:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T01:44:37","slug":"committing-suicide-organ-donation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/committing-suicide-organ-donation\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor endorses idea of people committing suicide through organ donation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A <\/span>recent bioethics paper<\/span><\/a> raises some age-old arguments around an issue that strikes at the heart of ethical organ donation: organ donation euthanasia or ODE.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organ donation can be a generous and lifesaving gift. But like many things, this gift can be misused. Organ donation is a very delicate procedure balancing the need to keep the organs healthy to ensure a successful donation, the dignity of the person donating, and the need to ensure the individual donating is, in fact, truly deceased. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Dead Donor Rule (DDR) is cornerstone to the public trust and ethics of organ donation. But for some, including <\/span>Dr. Didde B Anderson<\/span><\/a>, limiting the donation pool only to those actively dying or dead violates a principle of personal autonomy and is \u201cpaternalistic.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As summarized in <\/span>Psychology Today<\/span><\/a> (PT), Anderson argues that healthy people who wish to donate an essential organ \u2013 a heart, for example \u2013 to save the lives of others should be allowed to do so, at the cost of their own lives<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Walgreens<\/a><\/p>\n

One of Anderson\u2019s main arguments is that allowing someone to choose to commit suicide for organ donation would lead to better organ viability. Yet this is a calculating, utilitarian argument that has no place in a society that values both individual rights and human dignity. There are circumstances under which someone\u2019s bodily autonomy only goes so far, as <\/span>Live Action News <\/span>has reported<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 like in the case of\u00a0a person\u2019s choice to kill another living individual, like a preborn baby, or killing a terminally ill person. Inherent human dignity dictates that a patient\u2019s autonomy should not be \u201crespected\u201d if they \u2014 for instance\u00a0\u2014 requested death by firing squad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson responds to these criticisms by claiming that, even though people killing themselves to donate organs would incur significant harm, it\u2019s also harm to <\/span>deny<\/span><\/i> this decision (\u201cunacceptably paternalistic to refuse people this option\u201d says Psychology Today). Besides, she argues, it would do more good for people who need the organs than the healthy people who don\u2019t want them anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Organ donation must not be linked to euthanasia. <\/p>\n

Now published in @wileyinresearch<\/a> #Bioethics<\/a>, I explain why. I welcome any\/all respectful discussion. <\/p>\n

The brief version follows in the the ? below [1\/21]<\/p>\n

The full version is available here: https:\/\/t.co\/KENJnK7g2v<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jonah Rubin MD (@JonahRubinMD) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n