I would like to encourage you all to read the Summer 2010 newsletter of Life Decisions International. I feel it explains thoroughly the Catholic Church’s teaching on organ donation, and the very serious problems with organ harvesting as it is practiced in the medical field today. This is an area of the culture of death that I do not see addressed very often, and I think there is a lot of confusion on the issue. I myself was not aware of the problems with organ donation until relatively recently.
What is most concerning is the fact that it is impossible for certain organs, including the heart, to be harvested if the patient is already dead. This means that it is the doctor killing these people, not their injuries. The term “brain dead” was created to make these harvests possible, but brain death, no matter what the doctors may say, is not truly death. You can’t be dead if your heart is still beating, and your heart can’t be donated once it stops beating. I should note that this is often why the EMTs will continue CPR, even when there is little chance of recovery for someone - to keep the heart "beating" until the organs can be harvested. We hear a lot about Abortion and Euthanasia when we talk about Pro-Life issues. It’s easy to see why they are wrong. It’s harder to realize and explain why we can’t support organ donation for organs such as the heart. It’s hard to even to explain to ourselves when looking at those waiting for a donation WHY it is unethical for them to ever receive that donation. But we must look at this situation, and the truth of what really goes on. And we must continue to pray and work for the respect for life from conception through natural death. I could keep going here, but I know the newsletter is a much better authority than I am.
