Organ Donation and Terri Schiavo [View All]

[madhat]

I'm going to try to raise this discussion again because I think it's important. We all agree that organ donation is very important and it ought to be part of our living will/instructions to whomever is making decisions about us when we're incapacitated.

"More than 87,000 people are waiting for the gift of life" according to the HHS organ donor site

http://www.organdonor.gov/

"Each day, about 70 people receive an organ transplant. However, 17 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs. Please decide today to make your wishes known about organ and tissue donation. "

Put yourself in the place of the parents or guardians of organ donors. Their loved one is near death and they make the decision -- rationally and in consultation with the doctor -- that the dotor should try to harvest organs as quickly as possible BEFORE the person is dead.

This entire issue is being lost in the Terri Schiavo debate and the rabid "pro-life at any cost" debate.