Earlier today, I was listening to my aunt tell about a woman she sat next to while playing bingo. She said this woman was missing a kidney, while her other kidney was ridden with cancer. She said this woman would go into coughing spells so hard that she wasn't able to keep up with her bingo cards, a side-effect of her cancerous kidney...
I got to thinking about the people who are waiting for organ transplants, this woman probably being one of them, and I think I've got a solution to the shortage, being as people on the list have to wait years and years if they ever get a replacement organ at all...
A few years back, a man on death row suggested that instead of him dying by lethal injection, he wanted to "harvest" his organs, with the money gained out of it going to help his family. I started wondering: Why couldn't this work? Moreover, could it work on a more massive scale?
Think about it: There are prisoners sitting on death row for a decade or longer, as well as prisoners with life-sentences, some with multiple life-sentences. Why not, instead of tax dollars going to house these inmates for years at a time, society paying for people who have attacked society, why not just put them to sleep and harvest their good organs for the non-criminal population who need these organs?
I understand that there is some money to be made in donating organs, so the families of these prisoners could take the recompense from the prisoners' body parts. It'd be a humane way to die, just going to sleep and never waking up, we'd save millions in tax dollars going to the upkeep of these prisoners, the families of the criminals could benefit to a small degree, and people who are waiting for organs could get the parts they need.
I was just wanting to bank this idea off of some of you folks. What do you think?
Posted by Squid (Member # 3518) on :
Personally, I think it's a great idea.
Posted by vasduten (Member # 2211) on :
Absolutely a great idea, Lou. The question arises, though, does anyone really want a convict's organs?!? Remember that movie where the guy got the arm from a killer, and the arm continued trying to kill kill kill? lol It's still a great idea, and it's high time we got something back from those pukes besides clean-up detail by the roadside...
Posted by Lou Gojira (Member # 983) on :
Thanks y'all. I've ran the idea through my head numerous times, and still fail to see a potential downside. The only way a downside may occur is if a policy like this get's enacted, and it get's carried too far...maybe people getting life sentences for misdemeanors because the system is looking for more parts...but other than that I think it could work.
Posted by Tweener (Member # 1630) on :
There was a large concern raised over a similar topic a few years ago, when an inmate serving a life sentence received an organ transplant (can't remember if it was liver or heart or what), and died a short time later. People were pissed because the organ went to waste, plus it was given to a convict instead of a citizen.
Interesting idea about the organ harvesting thing though. I say so long as the prisoner doesn't have any diseases or a whole bunch of drug abuse convictions, it could work.
Posted by Lou Gojira (Member # 983) on :
Thanks Brother Tweener. I'm gonna have to try this idea on some co-workers. I work security at a mental health building, and we've got some counselors there that would make Michael Moore look like Pat Buchanan they're so leftist-liberal, and I'm not knocking the lefties, but that's the only crowd I can see possibly having a qualm with an idea like this. I'll give you folks the results after I've got to grill a few of those folks.
Posted by IAmSpartachris (Member # 3289) on :
Hey Lou,
I see this as a great idea that could go a long way toward helping to alleviate the wait time that people go through, and would also benefit not only the families of the people in need of an organ, but the families of the convicts themselves. Unfortunately, we live in a society that likes to toot it's moral horn on any and every issue that they are confronted with. Stem cell research, abortion, etc. Whereas I can see no flaw in your logic, I am sure there are thousands who could and will based on thier own moral convictions and religious beliefs.
Posted by Lou Gojira (Member # 983) on :
quote: Whereas I can see no flaw in your logic, I am sure there are thousands who could and will based on thier own moral convictions and religious beliefs.
Thanks for the kind words Brother IAmSpartachris. I got around to running the idea by a few counselors today, just to see if there could be any oppositional view-points to it, and the only one I heard was something along the lines of: "Most of the people in jail don't deserve to be there anyway!"
Other than that, I had one of my many bosses tell me that she didn't think the idea was bad, but she could picture it being thought bad. When I asked her how so, she said she'd think about it for a few days and get back with me. She's a brainy woman, so I'm anxious to see what she comes up with.
Posted by IAmSpartachris (Member # 3289) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lou Gojira: [QUOTE] I had one of my many bosses tell me that she didn't think the idea was bad, but she could picture it being thought bad. When I asked her how so, she said she'd think about it for a few days and get back with me. She's a brainy woman, so I'm anxious to see what she comes up with.
Hey Lou. I think her reaction might be indicitive of how many people might view this subject. The first reaction is that "it's not a bad idea, but..."
Again, I think it comes down to programming basically. By that I mean the way people are programmed by (insert outside influence here) to see things in moralistic ways and generally with religious overtones. I have always tended to look at things in a more scientific or humanistic approach, and therefore have a hard time finding any reason this idea should not already be in place as a working solution. We could probably spend hours upon hours discussing everyone's view on capital punishment here, but that wouldn't accomplish much with the exception of maybe getting to know each other a bit better. But it's enough to know that capital punishment does exist, and in that context, why not find something good to do to counterbalance the horror of the inmate's crimes and subsequent executions, by providing life to those who are in need. Actually, I would be curious to know if there are actually any proposals out there suggesting this very thing. And if so, are they being considered by those in power, or were they dismissed, and if so, why?
At any rate. Didn't mean to wax on. Good idea brother.