Thursday, July 2, 2009

Organ Donation

The booklet on bereavement didn't really discuss organ donation, but it's also an excellent question. A good teshuvah (rabbinic response) from our movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards on this topic is by Rabbi Joseph Prouser:
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19912000/prouser_chesed.pdf

Rabbi Prouser's conclusion is that organ donation, particularly for vital organs for which there is now a substantial rate of success for transplant surgery, constitutes "pikuah nefesh" -- saving a life -- and therefore would override any other Jewish legal or ethical concerns. An interesting question he raises is whether, in fact, organ donation is an "option," or is, in fact, a requirement if the conditions under which a person dies make it a possibility. He feels that, in fact, we should consider organ donation of vital organs, and for corneas, to be an "obligation." Certain other types of donation, such as skin for skin grafts, are permissible but not obligatory.

This is a matter that each of us should consider quite seriously, and we should make our wishes known to loved ones, and in medical directives. In Maryland it is also possible to indicate on a drivers' license that one would like to be a donor, and I would encourage members of our community to do so.

More soon!

Jacob

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