Monday, February 23, 2004

Organ donor fairness in New Zealand

Stephen Franks, a Member of the New Zealand Parliament, has proposed that organ donation be encouraged in New Zealand by a simple law change. In a press release, Mr. Franks said, "Non-donors should not be denied a transplant, but should go to the bottom of the list. Those who are prepared to contribute should get priority."

Mr. Franks' proposal is based on the same ideas that are behind LifeSharers.

"People are free to not donate, but they should then lose their moral claim to receive organs - it's fairness: people shouldn't expect others to do for them what they will not do for others," Mr Franks said.

Click here to subscribe to this blog

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Charity and fairness

Organ donation is perhaps the greatest gift a person can give. It is literally the gift of life.

LifeSharers members give their organs first to others who have promised to do the same. Critics say that’s unfair. What a weird thing to say.

When you give food to a hungry person, nobody criticizes you for not giving it to a different person who is even hungrier. When you give money to your church, nobody criticizes you for not giving it to the United Way.

So how does it make sense to criticize someone for deciding who gets his organs?

Click here to subscribe to this blog