China to stop using organs from executed prisoners

This seems a step in the right direction for China. It was rather gruesome to think of them executing their criminals and then harvesting the parts like some group of medical/economic Frankenstein's.

China will start phasing out its decades-long practice of using the organs of executed prisoners for transplant operations from November, as it pushes to mandate the use of organs from ethical sources, a senior official said.

China is the only country that still systematically uses organs extracted from executed prisoners in transplants, a practice that has drawn widespread international criticism.

While this seems a good move it looks like it will cause another problem from what I can see. That being a ~60% drop in available donors.

Voluntary organ donation in China had risen from 63 cases in 2010 to an average of 130 a month this year

China to stop using organs from executed prisoners

Dui Hua had estimated in 2006 that China conducted 8,000 executions, so it now believes the number closer to 4,000.

Source

Perhaps more of the Chinese people will become donors but based on the scandals surrounding this issue it seems a two edged blade. Speaking for myself I would never accept a transplant and in most situations would never be a donor. Thoughts?

I really dont see a problem with it.

As long as people were senteced rightly. They had a chance at life and blew it. Why not make them help someone in need.

As far as you not accepting an organ

If life is so damn special, why not prolong it if the technology and ability to help is there?

Ethical problems, i thought they gave up "ethics" when they were sentenced for their crime....assuming non corrupt reasons..

Condemmed to prison means your freedoms are revoked, death sentence means you no longer have a say so...

We should do this in the states. Alot off people die needlessly waiting for organs

Originally posted by liejunkie01
I really dont see a problem with it.

As long as people were senteced rightly. They had a chance at life and blew it. Why not make them help someone in need.

As far as you not accepting an organ

If life is so damn special, why not prolong it if the technology and ability to help is there?

Ethical problems, i thought they gave up "ethics" when they were sentenced for their crime....assuming non corrupt reasons..

Condemmed to prison means your freedoms are revoked, death sentence means you no longer have a say so...

We should do this in the states. Alot off people die needlessly waiting for organs

Seems a bit barbaric to me. If they really want to follow through with that maybe they should just toss them on an assembly line table, anesthetize them and cut them up while still alive.

As far as myself, well I've been around a long time and feel no need to scramble after other peoples body parts. Just a personal choice.

If they are going to die anyway why shouldn't they save a life, or 2, or 4, or 10, while doing it?

reply to post by OccamsRazor04

I understand your point. I guess my thoughts are they've already killed the person, they paid the price for whatever crime they've committed. They should leave the deceased with some last shred of dignity IMO.

Originally posted by Bassago
reply to post by OccamsRazor04

 

I understand your point. I guess my thoughts are they've already killed the person, they paid the price for whatever crime they've committed. They should leave the deceased with some last shred of dignity IMO.

So what is more dignifying, the person who saves the life of someone else, or the person who refuses to help? I would counter this gives them back their dignity, and truly atones for their crimes.

reply to post by Bassago


If I were a prisoner that died in prison and they harvested my organs, it'd be like a final "screw you" to the prison. Although I may not be whole, at least parts of me are living free!

Seriously though, I don't understand why more countries do this. If you muck up your life, you didn't deserve it in the first place. Might as well use you for something noble, like giving another person (or more) a chance at theirs. And dignity? There's nothing more dignified than saving a persons life in my opinion, so at least they (the prisoners) could leave this world knowing that their mucked up lives weren't for naught.

reply to post by Bassago

This reminds me of a story I just read. It's Death by Ecstasy, written by Larry Niven. It's located in the book World's Best Science Fiction 1970, a collection of short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr. The reason I mention is because dead criminals have their organs removed. The principle of the story is there's a whole criminal enterprise based on trading organs illicitly.

I'm inclined to believe we'll grow organis from our own cells.

See here as evidence:
www.webmd.com - First Organ Grown From Stem Cells Alone: Report...

Here an example of using stem cells and scaffolding to produce an 'organ' for a real patient:
www.popsci.com - Using a Lab-Grown Trachea, Surgeons Conduct the World's First Synthetic Organ Transplant...

Well like I said, it just a personal thing and there are circumstances in which I would voluntarily donate an organ. Such as for a family member if things were that dire.

Being kept in a dungeon awaiting the final indignity by the state is just not a situation that would find me in that giving of a mood. Especially if it meant the organ going to some bureaucrat of which chances could possibly be quite good (like Dick Cheney.) Also when I get put in the ground it would be nice if all of me was included.