New System of Organ Donation

[geoffrey]

Just curious...how long can they keep organs? From what I understand, it's not like blood that could be stored for long periods of time, but of course I may be wrong.

Not long. But the donors lists are so long I'm sure there would never be a surplus of organs.

The question is: are you really, "dead?"

Uhhh....

I don't think it's really a matter of human rights, but society (and the law) recognizes that even the dead have certain post-death rights -- the bequeathing of assets according to the wishes of the deceased being the most prevalent. I don't know what the law is in Canada, but in the US even when someone who dies without a will, the deceased's assets get passed to his or her family through the process of intestate succession; the state doesn't just harvest his or her assets and property for the benefit of the common good. I don't see why someone's physical body should be treated with any less reverence or respect.

Whether the law recognises it doesn't make it ethical. Think of it this way, once dead, a person really has no benefit to gain from having organs, in real terms. I don't care about your feelings, I care about results. So here we are, with someone that really has no interests anymore (see: dead) and some kid dying because they need a liver. Your a match. The ethical decision is to take the liver that isn't being used and give it to the kid that needs it.

It's all emotional rhetoric in defense of the status quo, switching the system up makes pragmatic and ethical sense. Dead people don't need rights, they have no interests. Living people should have access to organs when available.

[ClearWest]

Think of it this way, once dead, a person really has no benefit to gain from having organs, in real terms. I don't care about your feelings, I care about results. So here we are, with someone that really has no interests anymore (see: dead) and some kid dying because they need a liver. Your a match. The ethical decision is to take the liver that isn't being used and give it to the kid that needs it.

It's all emotional rhetoric in defense of the status quo, switching the system up makes pragmatic and ethical sense. Dead people don't need rights, they have no interests. Living people should have access to organs when available.

Dead people are the remains of living people, who once had interests. And their interests may have included a proper burial with all organs in tact. That's why I think it should be up to the person to make the arrangement if they really want to donate their organs. No one should ever assume rights over someone else or their property.

A person's corpse (along with their property) should become the property of the executor of the estate, and then passed on accordingly as required in the person's will.