
Will I Receive an Anesthetic When I Donate My Organs?
If you are a registered organ donor, you may be interested to know about an ongoing debate in transplant medicine. The discussion is...
Organs are complex collections of tissues that work together as a unit to perform a particular function. The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are examples of organs. Organs are dependent on a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrition from the circulatory system. Take away their blood flow, and they very rapidly become non-viable and begin to decompose, making them unsuitable for transplantation.
The medical definition of “tissue” is a group or layer of similar specialized cells that together perform a specialized function. Examples would include skin, bone, cornea, and adipose (fat). They decompose much more slowly in the absence of blood flow and may be harvested from a biologically dead donor.
This discussion brings up the question: when is somebody dead? Historically, elapsed time without breathing or a heartbeat marked medical and legal death until 1968. In that year, doctors at Harvard medical school proposed “redefining” irreversible coma as death. They did this for several reasons, one of which was to increase the supply of organs for donation by simply calling people in an irreversible coma “dead”. People in irreversible coma have beating hearts and breathing lungs (sometimes on a ventilator), so their organs are kept in good shape for harvesting.
Most people recognize that human beings possess an immaterial essence, a “soul” or “spirit”, in addition to their physical bodies. The definition of death also includes an understanding that the person’s immaterial part has somehow been separated from their physical body and has departed. The historical definition of death allowed for this, but the revised definition does not. We maintain that people in an irreversible coma are spiritually still present in their physical bodies, and that harvesting their organs is an act of murder against these vulnerable people. Even more horrifying is that often these procedures are performed without the benefit of anesthesia, so that these people may be awake and aware during the harvest surgery, but unable to move due to the use of paralyzing drugs.
"This is a long overdue book. I have been warning people about the horrors of "organ donation" for decades. I am so relieved that these wonderful, professional people have given us this tool to help inform everyone about the truth - there is no such thing as "Brain Death." Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"When I considered being an organ donor I was under the assumption that once I was pronounced “dead” (all my organs shut down INCLUDING MY ENTIRE BRAIN”and my body dead and cold) that then I would certainly share any parts of my body that may help someone. I was wrong. You must educate yourself so that you too can make a clear decision."
"Be prepared to be challenged: Well-written, biblically based treatment of a misunderstood topic among many Christians...
The author is to be commended for taking on a subject most of us would prefer to ignore."
"The authors of Harvesting Organs & Cherishing Life do not oppose organ donation and transplants; instead, they propose a view that does not violate the Law of God. Their abundant and verifiable examples of the dark side of organ harvesting will be repulsive, even horrifying to some. Their explanation of human death not only corrects the modern brain death error but exalts the victory of Jesus Christ over death. You cannot read this book and remain indifferent to the authors’ arguments." --Jeff Pollard, General Editor of Free Grace Broadcaster and Pastor of Mt. Zion Bible Church
First, go to your local Department of Motor Vehicles and remove your consent to donate from your driver’s license. Remove any consent to donate from your healthcare power of attorney and living will.
Every state maintains an Organ Donor Registry listing people who have agreed to be organ donors, either by driver’s license or by signing an organ donor card. NO STATE has a registry for those who do not want to be organ donors. Thus, removing your consent from your driver’s license does NOT guarantee that you will be removed from your state’s Organ Donor Registry. The halovoice.org website has a Downloadable Wallet Card that you may use to legally protect yourself.