Interesting Article on Suicide and Organ Donation

[pensive1981]

http://www.colintimberlake.com/suicide-organ-donation-transplant/

I just read this and it made me think quite a bit. What do you guys think about what this guy is proposing? Would you want a system like that? Would you use it if there was one? Would it make you or your family feel better?

When I think about it now, I kind of feel like I'd be depriving other people of life if I went ahead and did it without finding a way to give my organs to others.

I dunno.

 

[aoeu]

Actually, on my to-do list before suicide, I'm planning to ensure my organs are donated. I believe that in Canada organ donation cards aren't binding, so I'm going to have to write up something more formal, though I don't believe my family would refuse to donate in any case.

 

[pensive1981]

Actually, on my to-do list before suicide, I'm planning to ensure my organs are donated. I believe that in Canada organ donation cards aren't binding, so I'm going to have to write up something more formal, though I don't believe my family would refuse to donate in any case.

That's what the article was talking about though. How would you do it so that your organs were usable? There must be very few methods available and you'd have to be close to a hospital, make sure you went brain dead but not actual dead, etc...

 

[shazzer]

This is an interesting article concerning organ donation. I myself are looking at needing a kidney transplant at some point in the future. I have always carried a donor card although not sure if they could use any of my organs now. I think there needs to be a lot more done to raise awareness of the issue as so many people are waiting for an organ there just isn't enough to go around as people are dying but a lot of people don't allow there loved ones organs to be used. I had hoped in the Uk that this opt out would have happened where your organs can be used unless you have opted out of organ donation but it hasn't been passed. I don't know what the answer is but I don't think I'd would be happy to receive an organ from a prisoner on death row but maybe I would if it was the only option I really don't know. Most of the organs in the uk come from people in accidents or from other people in intensive care who have been diagnosed as brain dead

 

[downunder]

when my daughter died it was a week until they found her body or else I would have donated her organs.

 

[pensive1981]

when my daughter died it was a week until they found her body or else I would have donated her organs.

Terribly sorry to hear about that. I guess that's what the author was referring to, and you seem to unfortunately be in a horrible position to know. It seems like they have to get there within 2 minutes or something to use organs from what I know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gentlelady]

You need to also make your wishes known to your family. I know that in the USA, even if you leave clear instructions that you wish your organs to be donated, the family can override that decision.

 

[pensive1981]

You need to also make your wishes known to your family. I know that in the USA, even if you leave clear instructions that you wish your organs to be donated, the family can override that decision.

Agreed, but even if you make your wishes known, unless you kill yourself right at the hospital, there's no way they can get at your organs to donate them within 2 minutes or whatever the time limit is. Once you're dead, no blood gets to them and they are useless fast. That's why a system like the one mentioned would probably need a suicide room or a safe suicide site or something like that. Would suicidal people give up the convenience of going out wherever they want with the method they want to do it in a clinical place but save half a dozen people or whatever?

 

[pensive1981]

For what it's worth, I think I would.

 

[pensive1981]

This is kind of a whacky idea, but after thinking about it - I would feel like a real jerk if I killed myself without finding some way to save others' lives with my organs - it is the very least I could do. And I (or any of you) may be 100% miserable - but what if four, five, six people were made 100% happy with a second chance at life because they could use the organs that might be wasted on someone who doesn't want to live.

Do you think finding a way to help others this way might be a worthy goal that could give us something to work toward?

 

[touglytobeloved]

Yes, i agree. Organs that will save lifes, and also, controled and painless suicide. win-win situation

 

[Dave_N]

Before your organs can be harvested, you have to be brain dead, but your organs have to still be functional. I agree that it is an interesting theory though. Many people are in need of healthy organs, while others wish that their lives would end. I would feel kind of guilty though, knowing that someone had to die so that my life could be saved. :unsure:

 

[the fleet asleep]

this article really begs the question: is the dichotomy of life and death really as polar as most would have us believe? i suppose our views on the subject is a bit skewed though.

implememnting a system where one could commit suicide in a safe place, to have ones organs harvested will never happen. while, in many cultures throughout history, the right to die was as respected as the right to live, things have certainly changed.

christianity states that killing oneself is murder, as you life belongs to god above all. modern society states that only the mentally ill would want to kill themselves. no matter which way you approach it, youre going to be looked down apon.

im not saying that many of the people who attempt suicide arent mentally ill, or that even a small percentage of people who do are actually justified in it, but is there no way one can simply no longer want to be alive? can one not come to the rational decision to no longer drain resources from a society that does not benefit from their existence? im not saying it probable, only possible

even if the president himself could only be saved by your organs, and you were willing to give your life to save his, youd still never be allowed to do it. hell, they put dr kevorkian (sp?) in prison for more than a decade to prove that not even the terminally ill didnt have the right to die.

it is a novel idea, if not more than a bit morbid. in my contemplations about suicide, ive thought extensively about hypothermia. from what i can tell, you simply fall asleep and never wake up. considering your body would already be chilled pretty well, maybe your organs would be of medical use a bit longer than the typical suicide victim. who knows by how much though

 

[pensive1981]

this article really begs the question: is the dichotomy of life and death really as polar as most would have us believe? i suppose our views on the subject is a bit skewed though.

implememnting a system where one could commit suicide in a safe place, to have ones organs harvested will never happen. while, in many cultures throughout history, the right to die was as respected as the right to live, things have certainly changed.

christianity states that killing oneself is murder, as you life belongs to god above all. modern society states that only the mentally ill would want to kill themselves. no matter which way you approach it, youre going to be looked down apon.

im not saying that many of the people who attempt suicide arent mentally ill, or that even a small percentage of people who do are actually justified in it, but is there no way one can simply no longer want to be alive? can one not come to the rational decision to no longer drain resources from a society that does not benefit from their existence? im not saying it probable, only possible

even if the president himself could only be saved by your organs, and you were willing to give your life to save his, youd still never be allowed to do it. hell, they put dr kevorkian (sp?) in prison for more than a decade to prove that not even the terminally ill didnt have the right to die.

it is a novel idea, if not more than a bit morbid. in my contemplations about suicide, ive thought extensively about hypothermia. from what i can tell, you simply fall asleep and never wake up. considering your body would already be chilled pretty well, maybe your organs would be of medical use a bit longer than the typical suicide victim. who knows by how much though

Sounds crazy but maybe a system where people committing suicide could give their organs is something worth fighting for (for suicidal people).

 

[HateMeToday]

Actually they do some organ transplants from people who's hearts have stopped, though most fail, sometimes they still work, but everyone's forgetting about tissure donation, what about that? skin, bone, eyes, tendons, heart valves, veins, those things can save lives too.

 

[pensive1981]

Actually they do some organ transplants from people who's hearts have stopped, though most fail, sometimes they still work, but everyone's forgetting about tissure donation, what about that? skin, bone, eyes, tendons, heart valves, veins, those things can save lives too.

Agree but those can be taken from any body can't they? I don't think there's a shortage of bone or corneas. It's the complex organs that decay right away that are the ones people are on waiting lists for.

But yes, I'm willing to bet that the tissues you mentioned are already taken from people who commit suicide if they have indicated that desire. I wish nobody would want to commit suicide at all but I also kind of wish that if people did it, they could help people as much as possible. I think a lot of society looks at suicidal people as selfish when it is actually the opposite a lot of the time.

 

[d-pressed]

This is a terrible idea. This raises serious questions in my mind regarding whether this is really appropriate in a pro-life forum!!

Firstly, it's one step closer to making suicide an option and more acceptable for most people rather than find help, because it may ease their guilt to know they might help other people.

Second, the article makes no suggestion about how such a system would be carried out. I'm assuming that they would have to legalise euthanasia assisted by a medic who could then immediately transplant the organs efficiently. The criteria for euthanasia would have to be calculated very sensitively indeed. In countries such as Switzerland where it is legal, the decision is taken often by a terminally ill individual after regular evaluation with the clinic over a period of months or even years. Suicidal people could change their mind completely or even recover in that time.

Third, you can help more people being alive! (of course this is dependent on just how ill you are, but even the most depressed can find it gives their life some kind of value when it may be hard to see it).

 

[pensive1981]

This is a terrible idea. This raises serious questions in my mind regarding whether this is really appropriate in a pro-life forum!!

Firstly, it's one step closer to making suicide an option and more acceptable for most people rather than find help, because it may ease their guilt to know they might help other people.

Second, the article makes no suggestion about how such a system would be carried out. I'm assuming that they would have to legalise euthanasia assisted by a medic who could then immediately transplant the organs efficiently. The criteria for euthanasia would have to be calculated very sensitively indeed. In countries such as Switzerland where it is legal, the decision is taken often by a terminally ill individual after regular evaluation with the clinic over a period of months or even years. Suicidal people could change their mind completely or even recover in that time.

Third, you can help more people being alive! (of course this is dependent on just how ill you are, but even the most depressed can find it gives their life some kind of value when it may be hard to see it).

Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone by bringing it up. Just thought it made an interesting read and might make for an interesting discussion here. I mean, I'm in the same shoes as everyone else on the board and I'm able to just look at the issue and draw an opinion about whether the principle might be helpful (and not do myself in because the topic came up). If anything, I thought reading it might make people less likely to take their own lives impulsively if they realized they might be depriving others of life. Anyway, I was just trying to get some opinions because it made me think.

 

[Broken Wings]

It makes sense to me... If you are that dead set on it (please pardon the pun...) that you would take up to several MONTHS to set up an organ donation death, then it should be allowed for the better good, I guess. Plus, if you were forced to spend those months in psychiatric care, many more people would pull out, and get help.

I espeicially agree with letting death row prisonners donate their organs, but as I don't believe in the death penalty...

This would also allow many cases where euthanasia would be wanted by the patient to be allowed that, even though a fair number of them wouldn't have usable organs...

I'm Pro-Choice and Pro-life in that order. Life is sacred, but you should have the choice of being forced to live it... Or something like that, I don't remember the exact wording.

 

[pensive1981]

Agreed.