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Organ Donation Concerns

Organ donation is the process of giving the gift of life. Whether you are alive and are donating a duplicate organ, such as a kidney, to a family member who shares your blood type and who has an organ problem that is potentially life-threatening, or whether you are deciding what you would like to happen to your organs when you are dead and will no longer need them, making the decision to become an organ donor is a deeply personal choice. Most people who have considered organ donation have a number of concerns with the organ donation process.

  1. Medics Will Save Organ Donors

    • One concern with organ donation is the idea that because organ donors are so badly needed, medics and doctors will not do everything in their power to keep an organ donor alive, because they want to harvest the organs and will prematurely pull the plug on a donor to get at them. This has been roundly discredited, and because medical personnel are sworn to do everything possible to save their clients, this concern is generally invalid.

    Viewing for Funerals

    • Another concern with the organ donation process is that your family will not be able to have a viewing as a part of your funeral if you choose to donate organs. This fear is also invalid. Your organs are removed as part of the embalming process, which is required by law in many states if a viewing is to take place. No one will be able to tell that you have donated organs at your funeral.

    Cost

    • Many people are concerned that they will have to pay for the harvesting of the organs. This is incorrect, and many states even provide a reasonable benefit for the organ donation under the current law. For example, Pennsylvania provides a several hundred dollar death benefit to organ donors to help defray the cost of their funerals. In this way, organ donors do not have to pay to donate their own organs.

    Organ Donation is Sacreligious

    • Another common concern is that individuals who donate organs are violating some principle of their religion. This is generally not the case, and most major religions do not prohibit organ donation any more, including Catholicism and Christianity. Even Islam and major Judaism do not prohibit donation of organs.

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