By Nancy Valko Whether we are renewing our driver’s licenses, watching the TV news, or just picking up a newspaper, it’s impossible to miss the campaign to persuade us to sign an organ donation card such as this one. We see story after story about how grieving...
american life league
ORGAN DONATION
There never used to be debate over when someone was dead.
If there was no heartbeat, no breathing, and no response to stimulation or resuscitation for a sufficient period of time, it was clear that the death of the person had occurred. However, in 1968, that all changed
In 1967, widespread attention was drawn to organ donation with Dr. Christian Barnard’s heart transplant in South Africa. This gave rise to an intense campaign—which continues today—to encourage organ harvesting/donation. The traditional criterion for declaring death (centered on absence of circulation and respiration), however, stands in the way of obtaining unpaired vital organs – such as the heart – in good condition for transplantation.
Why? Because it is necessary for the heart to be beating and for blood, carrying oxygen, to be pumping in and out of such organs at the time of removal. Therefore, the desire for vital organs for transplantation prompted some to look for new and different criteria to declare death which would allow functioning organs to be removed from the patient.
In 1968, the notion of “brain death” was formulated and published by an ad hoc committee of the Harvard Medical School. Thus, “brain death” as a criterion for declaring death was proposed and accepted by many.
The practice of declaring death based on “brain death” criterion is flawed. Criteria for declaring death are not something to take lightly. As long as “brain death” continues to be accepted and used as a sole diagnosis for death, some patients will be sent to the grave prematurely.
More information on organ donation below
When is a Person Really Dead?
There never used to be debate over when someone was dead. If there was no heartbeat, no breathing, and no response to stimulation or resuscitation for a sufficient period of time, it was clear that the death of the person had occurred. However, in 1968, that all...
Abortion: Health of the Mother
This is the most deceptive argument for aborting a child that exists today, yet those who support abortion argue that it is an essentially protected right that every expectant mother should have at her disposal when she chooses to abort her baby. In 1973, when the...
Before you fill out an organ donation card, here are a few things to think about.