NCBC Comments on New York Times Series on Organ Donation and TransplantationThe New York Times is currently running a series of articles written by Jane E. Brody on organ donation and transplantation (see August 28, 2007 and September 4, 2007 editions.) This series highlights the importance in our society for generous individuals to donate their organs to persons in need. Organ donation saves lives and also helps to stem the commoditization of human organs through trafficking in the international black market. As Ms. Brody writes in her first article: “People typically wait three to five years for donated organs, and each day 17 of them die.” The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services issued by the U. S. Catholic bishops state, in part: “The transplantation of organs from living donors is morally permissible when such a donation will not sacrifice or seriously impair any essential bodily function and the anticipated benefit to the recipient is proportionate to the harm done to the donor” (ERD 30). The NCBC appreciates the New York Times effort to inform the public on the vital issue of organ transplants and donations. One issue of concern regarding cadaveric donation when “brain death”, or neurological criteria, are used is that it be total brain death, including the brain stem. This is in contrast to partial brain death, in which the brain stem is still alive. Only the first of these two standards is appropriate in Catholic teaching. The NCBC has resources available at our website for further reading on this topic. NCBC FAQ on “Brain Death” Criteria Statement of John Paul II to an International Congress on Transplants, August 29, 2000 NCBC Statement on the Regulated Market of Organ Sales, March 15, 2006 “Brain Dead Means Dead” (from Making Sense of Bioethics) “Bodies in Plastic” (from Making Sense of Bioethics) Members and subscribers can also search Ethics & Medics and The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly for past articles dealing with this topic. |
