Organ transplants have become a crucial life-saving issue since the first successful one in 1954. Many people have had their organs donated to other people. For instance, some donate a kidney and function with one. In most cases, donation of all other vital organs is made on a dead individual if the organs are viable. In this case, a touching story of a man from Georgia, Garry Phebus, who has made an offer of donating his organs has hit the headlines. He has battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis since 2008, and he came to a decision that he wanted to donate his organs and help save a person’s life instead of waiting until the illness consumes him. This issue has been a controversial one since, despite his good intentions, it can be viewed as suicide. Phebus said, "If people have their legs cut off, or their wife left them, and they commit suicide, it's another story. They still have a life ahead of them. But I do not." (CNN Wire Staff, 2010). This leaves the question whether this step would be an admirable act of kindness or assisted suicide. Despite the fact that Phebus is doing something good, it is not right both in the eyes of the law and religiously speaking hence it could be seen as suicide.
Ethically, Phebus’ actions can be justified since this can be regarded as a noble act of kindness in a bid to help the suffering and the sick. His decision is also in line with basic medical ethics of Principle of Free and Informed Consent since Phebus is fully aware of his condition and fully consents the procedure of donating his organs and most importantly it is a voluntary choice, but it does not make it right (Center of Bioethics, 2004). Despite the upsides, some ethical professionals consider this as ethically inappropriate since, at the moment, Phebus is alive. It would be medically unethical to go ahead with his wishes since until he is considered clinically dead, his wishes cannot be pursued. Legally, the admirable step that Phebus wants to take is prohibited. According to the law, the medical practitioners involved in the transplant cannot be the cause of death of the patient hence the individual has first to be declared clinically dead before the organ harvesting can proceed (dead donor rule) (CNN Wire Staff, 2010). The attempted organ transplant of this kind is only allowed in Washington, Montana, and Oregon with a restriction to only individuals who are at the final stages of their terminal disease, which is not the current instance of Phebus’ case.
This type of organ donation would to some extent deter other donors. In this case, the decision made by Phebus makes sense for him, but it does not make sense to a larger number of the rest of the society. Usually, before an individual donates any organ they have to be assured of aggressive health care and in such a case they need to be convinced that no one will end their lives prematurely (Flaman, 1994). Therefore if Phebus’ wishes are satisfied, it will terrify other donors in that they may think that their lives would be terminated prematurely to achieve an organ transplant.
There would be no need for an autopsy in this case since Phebus is suffering from ALS, which is an illness that will cause his death after some time. Phebus had explained his wishes to his family and also made a video in regards to the same hence it is evident that he wanted to donate his organs. Therefore, it is quite evident that the step he wanted to take would cause his death. There would be no need or an autopsy in such an instance since the cause of death is already known.
In conclusion, despite the good behind Garry Phebus’ intentions, it is still seen as morally and medically unethical and most importantly illegal. It is viewed as assisted suicide since, despite the definite end in death due to ALS, it is clear that everyone else healthy or not will still die, it is just a matter of time, and even then people will still need organs. Therefore sacrificing his life could be seen as a way of making his ‘suicide’ have meaning, and it is not right. It is not right to end his life and religiously speaking it is seen as playing God.
References
Center for Bioethics, (2004). Ethics of Organ Transplantation (1st ed., pp. 24-27).
CNN Wire Staff, (2010). Organ donation or assisted suicide? Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/29/georgia.right.to.die/
Flaman, P. (1994). Organ Transplants: Ethical Issues. Sites.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 18 July 2016, from https://sites.ualberta.ca/~pflaman/organtr.htm
