An Oregon death-row inmate has offered to donate his organs after his execution. So far, his offer has been rejected. What are the legal and ethical barriers for such a donation?
No real legal barrier exists. The state has refused this offer, even though—while rare—organs have been donated by prisoners who died of natural causes in prison. There is a good ethical argument against harvesting organs from executed prisoners if death row inmates were coerced to become organ donors.
"I don't think we want to be the kind of society that takes organs from prisoners," said Paul R. Helft of the Center for Medical Ethics at Indiana University. "To do so would be to use unfree prisoners as a means to an end."
That does not seem to be so in this case, however, and thus your question.
"Why go out and waste your organs when you have the potential to … save six to 12 lives?" is the position of the young Oregon man ironically named Christian Longo, sentenced to death for the brutal murders of his wife and children. In addition to a small way to give back for his horrible crime, he stated it might give his family some comfort, pointing out that in Oregon there were 628 gravely ill people waiting for kidneys, 122 for livers and 13 for hearts. None of them objected to getting the gift of life from a condemned man.
Do we want to be the kind of society that along with the ultimate punishment denies a condemned man a last opportunity to do something good?
The reported practical problem with the prisoner's request is that the three-drug cocktail the state would use to kill him also could damage his organs, making them unsuitable for transplant.
The real moral issue is whether we want to be the kind of society that kills people for killing people. Amnesty International reported only 23 countries executed anyone in 2010. Among those conducting more than 1,442 of 1,523 executions worldwide were China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, the United States and Saudi Arabia. Are these the kind of countries with which we want to be identified?
We are the only Western country imposing the death penalty, and we have a higher murder rate. According to the United Nations International Homicide Data for 2008, the United States experienced 5.22 murders per 100,000 population, compared to 1.66 for Canada, 1.19 for the United Kingdom and 1.35 for France.
We hear fellow Christians in this debate say, "Well, the Bible says an eye for an eye …," forgetting that Jesus rejected that approach (Matthew 5:38). Regardless of his ultimate fate, young Christian Longo already has given back to society by reminding us of a problematic moral issue we need to consider.
Cynthia Holmes is an attorney in Clayton, Mo., and a former moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.