prisoners and organ donation
Running head: PRISONERS AND ORGAN DONATION
Prisoners and Organ Donation
Prisoners and Organ Donation
A continuing problem exists in trying to close the gap between the supply and demand of procured organs in the United States. An increase in the amount of transplant operations performed has risen significantly over time. As a result, a new name is added to the national waiting list every 16 minutes (Duan, Gibbons, & Meltzer, 2000). It is estimated that about 100,000 individuals are on the national transplant waiting list at all times (Munson, 2012). Something needs to be done before these numbers get completely out of control. Despite the introduction of Gift of Life and many other educational efforts, the United States continues to struggle with the bioethical issue of how to sufficiently increase organ donation. Due to the significant shortage, new approaches need to be taken in an effort to increase organ donations. One approach to increasing donations would be to allow prisoners to donate their organs. This option could be available to not only prisoners on death row, but those serving short sentences and wishing to give back to the community. Although this option is supported by utilitarianism and the principles of beneficence and autonomy, it is currently not uniformly allowed in the United States. Because of this ten people a day die waiting for an organ transplant while useable organs are wasted (Munson, 2012). Therefore, prisoners need to be allowed to participate in organ donation.
An ethical theory to support a prisoner’s right to participate in organ donation is utilitarianism. Rule Utilitarianism is “characterized as the theory that an action is right when it conforms to a set of rules that has been determined to produce at least as much overall utility as any other set” (Munson, 2012, p. 868). There are a few basic principles to support the decision of allowing prisoners to participate in organ donation. The principle of
Prisoners and Organ Donation
Prisoners and Organ Donation
A continuing problem exists in trying to close the gap between the supply and demand of procured organs in the United States. An increase in the amount of transplant operations performed has risen significantly over time. As a result, a new name is added to the national waiting list every 16 minutes (Duan, Gibbons, & Meltzer, 2000). It is estimated that about 100,000 individuals are on the national transplant waiting list at all times (Munson, 2012). Something needs to be done before these numbers get completely out of control. Despite the introduction of Gift of Life and many other educational efforts, the United States continues to struggle with the bioethical issue of how to sufficiently increase organ donation. Due to the significant shortage, new approaches need to be taken in an effort to increase organ donations. One approach to increasing donations would be to allow prisoners to donate their organs. This option could be available to not only prisoners on death row, but those serving short sentences and wishing to give back to the community. Although this option is supported by utilitarianism and the principles of beneficence and autonomy, it is currently not uniformly allowed in the United States. Because of this ten people a day die waiting for an organ transplant while useable organs are wasted (Munson, 2012). Therefore, prisoners need to be allowed to participate in organ donation.
An ethical theory to support a prisoner’s right to participate in organ donation is utilitarianism. Rule Utilitarianism is “characterized as the theory that an action is right when it conforms to a set of rules that has been determined to produce at least as much overall utility as any other set” (Munson, 2012, p. 868). There are a few basic principles to support the decision of allowing prisoners to participate in organ donation. The principle of
References: Bagatell, S., Kahn, M., & Owens, D. (2010). Organ Donation by a Prisoner: Legal and Ethical Considerations. The Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society. 162(1), 44-49. Caplan, A. (2011). The Use of Prisoners as Sources of Organs-An Ethically Dubious Practice. The American Journal of Bioethics.11(10), 1-5. Diflo, T. (2004). Use of Organs from Executed Chinese Prisoners. The Lancet. 364, 30-31. Duan, N., Gibbons, R., & Meltzer, D. (2000). Waiting for Organ Transplantation. Science, 287(5451), 237-238. Munson, R. (2012). Intervention and Reflection: Basic Issues In Bioethics. (9th ed). St. Louis MO: Wadsworth. Trotter, J. (2006). Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts. The New England Journal of Medicine, 355(11), 1183-1184.