An interesting comment to my last post raises a good question about organ donation: should organs go to non-donors? Organizations like LifeSharers believe that the decision to become a donor should be a factor in determining where someone falls on the recipient list. I vehemently disagree.
My rather long response to the comment appears in the original post, but one thing I don’t make clear is that I’ve been in the extremely uncomfortable position of having to argue against harvestation on behalf of the family member I mentioned. There are some very real reasons that they made that decision. While I don’t agree with them, I was in the position where my job was to act upon that family member’s wishes…not my own.
The medical provider was stunned later when she found out, quite by accident (she saw my driver’s license) that I am an organ donor. That was when I explained that I and my family members had been personally touched by the concept of organ donation — it’s not academic for us. By then I was also working in the benefits field so the idea of consent to treat also wasn’t academic. The look on the medical provider’s face spoke volumes. I do like to think it caused some reflection about matters of consent.
It’s non-academic for me in another arena too. Some people are surprised to find out that, despite being registered as an organ donor and having a rare blood type, I do not give blood. It’s not that I don’t want to; I can’t. Every time I have, I’ve ended up so sick I could barely stand during the next 24 hours, and weak for as long as a week. After my reluctant agreement — I obviously have strong feelings about donation — I allowed the Red Cross themselves to remove me from the donor list.
If I were to ever be in a situation where I needed a blood transfusion, I probably would be too insensate to discuss the contents of my billfold. A health care provider thus probably wouldn’t know that I’m pro-blood donation. All that could be discerned is that I don’t carry a Red Cross card. Should I be denied the transfusion just because of that?
Of course not. But that’s exactly the position that LifeSharers is taking.
Their FAQ insists that those who are willing but not able should sign up anyway to indicate their consent. I have a problem with this. What if someone chose to become an organ donor against the express wishes of his/her family, and thus chose to simply place a written note in his/her confidential medical records instead of allowing the donor symbol on a driver’s license? Should that person be denied a transplant simply because of not making a decision public? Should I have to carry around a piece of paper explaining why I am not a blood donor?
Matters of consent are often much more than just putting your name on a list. They’re also inextricably intertwined with matters of privacy. That’s why organ donation shouldn’t be restricted to those who have given public consent. It’s more complicated than that.