Father Lyons:

Thanks for your thoughtful re...

2008-04-24T11:44:00.000-04:00

Father Lyons:

Thanks for your thoughtful response to my comment.

You suggest we need more education to get more organ donors. I don't think more education is the answer. Public opinion polls show that over 90% of Americans already support organ donation. The problem is that only 50% have agreed to donate their own organs.

I wrote that giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to donate. You responded "I doubt it". Please consider a thought experiment. Would giving organs LAST to organ donors convince FEWER people to donate? It seems obvious that putting organ donors at the back of the transplant waiting list would lead to fewer donors. Why shouldn't putting organ donors first lead to more donors?

You wrote that LifeSharers "excludes people who have bought into the lies about donation (i.e., they take organs from black folks and kill them and give them to white folks... or... if they know I am a donor, they won't try to save my life)." I wonder how many of these people are willing to accept an organ transplant? If I think signing an organ donor card could cause doctors to not save my life, should I be willing to accept a transplant from someone who might have been left to die for their organs?

Similarly, you wrote of people who think that organ donation "is one group's way of being a modern-day succubus off of another group." Do these people accept organ transplants?

LifeSharers puts the Golden Rule in operation in the world of organ donation: LifeSharers members treat others as we would like others to treat us.

Dave Undis
Executive Director
LifeSharers

Comments on StellarCross: Organ and Tissue Donation II

Father Lyons:Thanks for your thoughtful re...

Father Lyons:

Thanks for your thoughtful re...