should organs be extracted from the dead?

Question

I was wondering with all the living people with organ problems, Shouldn't the organs of people who passed away be taken out and inserted into those who need them. I mean the dead have no use for them after all. Why not just remove them?
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Answer 1

I think so. In fact I would go so far as to say that it would be unethical, if somebody's life depended on it, to not harvest organs, even against the wishes of the deceased.

kickinupfunf says it would be "grossly unethical and without merit" to harvest organs, but surely she doesn't mean this in life or death situations.

Imagine that you were standing alongside a railroad track, next to the switch which will change the direction of the tracks. The way the tracks are currently pointed, there is a live person tied to the tracks. Lying on the other set of tracks is the body of a neighbor of yours. This neighbor had been very religious, and you know that he made it clear that he, believing an intact body is necessary for reincarnation, would never allow his body to be "desecrated", even to save another life. Suddenly, you hear a train coming around the corner. Given that it will not have time to stop before hitting the person tied to the tracks, and you do not have enough time to untie them, your only hope to save their life is to flip the switch, rerouting the train, and causing it to run over the body of your deceased neighbor, utterly "desecrating" his body beyond what any mere organ extraction would have done. Would anybody seriously claim that it is "grossly unethical" to intentionally destroy the neighbor's body in order to save the person tied to the tracks? Not only is it not wrong, but it would be wrong to favor the neighbor's wish over the life of the person on the tracks! But this situation is, in all relevant ways, identical to a situation in which an organ is needed to save a life but the only available organ is inside a person who had forbade organ donation.

I do not know how often people die from lack of avaiable organs, and how many could be saved if we switched to mandatory donations. What I do know, though, is that in cases where a life does hang in the balance, we are being grossly inconsistent if we think it is moral to destroy the body on the tracks, but immoral to extract an organ.

p.s. I am sorry for the unoriginality of the train scenario. It gets used a lot in moral reasoning, but it is just so damn good!

Answer 2

Dead people can't spend money, so why not just take the money too.

Seriously, I have been considering revoking my organ donation. Why would we give my heart to someone who drinks, smokes and otherwise harms their own body. The consequences of not taking care of yourself is that your life is shortened. Rewarding someone for those choices doesn't seem correct to me.

If a person spends their time damaging their body with drugs and alcohol, why we would we place my organs into them.

We have road rage. If you make the choice to drive like a maniac and injure yourself, oh well, I think my organs would be better used elsewhere.

We've become such an entitled culture that we think we have the right to anything and everything, including each other's organs. Technically, I will be dead and my rights end there.

Answer 3

If the organ dies, it's currently of no use to us. If science can revitalize an organ without damage, that can change.

However, people have choices to let their organs go to others after they die. IT's asked when you get your driver's license and says it on there. ORGAN DONOR.

I think everyone should be one. But I understand it's a personal decision. I'm with you.

Answer 4

i used to say yes before, but, there's a natural order for everything and that's not natural, i see a lot of people extend their life span in my line of work, but after they do that a lot of things happen and the quality of life is not the same, they just go down hill, i call it "living overtime" but you are the one that pay time and a half for it.

Answer 5

I think it should continue to be up to the deceased person whether or not they want their organs donated.

Answer 6

Because they do not belong to you. Or anyone but the body of which the are in. It would be grossly unethical and with merit to do so.

Answer 7

we should do it as compassionate human beings ,
but you always got the religious nut job who has so much selfishness they want the parts to rot
and Im a christian , I am a potential donor

Answer 8

Why not? They can't really do a thing about it... although their living kin could... so it should be okay as long as you get the living relatives' permission.

Answer 9

Yes.