Image sourceOver here, in Nigeria, organ donation practices as well as the policies bordering about it are not household news. I know some about how it works(or how I think it should) but it's not a regular conversation and for the most multitude amongst us, we've never had experiences regarding it that were close to home.
I would consider the idea of compulsory organ donation morally and logically absurd. And it doesn't matter that it's being done after a person is dead. Cause, tell me, if people cannot have their autonomous decisions respected as to the fate of their own body after their death, what expectation then is to be had that their decisions as to other aspects of their property will be respected postmortem?
Ask yourself what kind of twisted logic would it be to say to a person
'We respect your decisions as to your property, but for your lungs and kidneys, that's ours.'
How does this sound to you? Maybe it wouldn't be put this way but this spells the meaning.
I find it very distasteful to have people
"automatically" sign up for organ donation
without their knowledge, unless they positively opt out. No, they aren't even "signing up." That's a euphemism for trickery and deception, no matter how virtuous the end goal may be.
People ought to choose to donate their organs but of their own volition. Just as importantly, they should neither be guilted nor tricked into it.
I say it with much certainty that many people will be unwilling to give out their organs due to cultural, religious and personal convictions.
What the governments can do is educate them, explain how it is not going to mutilate their corpses, explain how much good it will do rather than having those organs rotting or incinerated. But, recognize that at the end of the day, it is their bodies to do with as they please. To force them or trick them into it is to effectively say that, "we couldn't get them to peacefully opt in, we'll just have to take what we need from them when they're no more.''
It would be a sick civilization the day we start treating dead people like cars in the scrapyard with spare auto parts based on "Can this part be put to better use here or there?" They're humans, and it's expected that we have some respect for the dignity of their person.
We all are in the know that corpses are not likely to need their organs after they die. Whereas there are lots of people currently alive who could use a new heart, a new kidney, or a new eye or another.
I see the rational behind why such rule might be implemented. It's to the good of those who stand a chance for a healthier life if they receive the transplant.
However, i dont consider it a good approach. It simply comes off like a human's personal freedom is being taken away.
Organ donation is a matter of personal freedom and letting a person to freely make that choice, no matter how noble the cause.
Most fundamentally, one's body is neither a
commodity nor public property. No one else but self "owns" it. Therefore, any decisions concerning the body (and body parts), including organ donation, cannot be allowed to be made by anyone else... and definitely not by the Government.
I've never been in that situation where I, or a loved one has had to donate an organ(by freewill or coercion) and whatever I might say here may likely not be my stance if I am faced with that situation. Albeit, if I am already dead, what can I even do?
Also, if the government makes it a mandatory service, what options do I have?
If it was a loved one who did not give that autonomy to the government, maybe I'd put up a fight. Maybe. I really do not know.
I hope this was interesting and made some sense. Share your thoughts with me in the comment section. I'd love to know what you think.