Ethical Issues In Organ Donation

Organ donation and distribution to patients in need is a highly controversial issue that is one of the main concerns of the subject of bioethics. Many ethical questions arise when a possible organ is available to use from a person, whether they are alive or dead, in order to save the life of another. These include whether it is “right” to ask the family of someone who just died for use of the subject’s organs and if it is technically considered consent if the family does agree to donate an organ from a loved one during this tragic time in their lives. Another question that naturally arises is how to distribute the scarce amount of organs available to the large population that needs them. Many different moral principles come up on the issue

Since there are a finite amount of available organs, I believe we should distribute the supply we do have to those who would do the most good with an organ. A utilitarian would consider an alcoholic, like Ernie Crowfeather (Pence 26), who needs a new kidney because of his drinking problem and ultimately decide that a married woman with two kids should get the kidney over him. I do not side with Kant on the belief that both the alcoholic and married woman should have an equal chance as the woman has the most to gain from receiving the kidney. The reason why I believe utilitarianism is the most persuasive argument for organ donations is because it incorporates many of the ethical principles of the other two branches while still weighing all the risks in a genuine attempt to do the most good. Since it initially considers everyone for a transplant it treats everyone fairly in that each individual is thoroughly reviewed. Also, I find a flaw in the absolutism belief of Kantians because each situation is different and a utilitarian acknowledges this by examining all the possible rewards and disadvantages of each situation. By embracing organ donation, both the autonomy that Kantian’s embrace for patients in the medical field and the heroic moral character that virtue ethicists support are upheld in this thinking. While some may argue that a utilitarian ethicist would be irrational by doing something like killing a human to use his or her organs to save the lives of many other people, I disagree. A utilitarian would not just look at the short-term rewards of this seemingly immoral act but instead also consider the much larger long-term repercussions such as how society would negatively react and distrust the medical system if an organ harvesting business was revealed like that of in China, and