Persuasive Essay On Organ Donation

Today we are in great need of a solution to solve the problem of the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The website for Donate Life America estimates that in the United States over 100 people per day are added to the current list of over 100,000 men, women, and children that are waiting for life-saving transplants. Sadly enough, approximately 18 people a day on that list die just because they cannot outlive the wait for the organ that they so desperately need to survive. James Burdick, director of the Division of Transplantation for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services confirms, “The need for organ transplants continues to grow and this demand continues to outpace the supply of transplantable organs”. The

The medical industry had been achieving more in the stage of medical advancements, though they are still in the early phase. Artificial organs have been one of those achievements. Although they have achieved such, artificial organs are not perfect. Most doctors as well as patients would prefer to replace a dying organ with a compatible human organ, rather than with an artificial or animal organ. Yet due to a there being less organs donated than recipients, artificial and animal organs are becoming more common in transplants. Most of this issue is because people are unaware of how organ donation works, the organs that can be donated, how many people are in need, and the advancements that have happened in the field. Organ donation saves hundreds of lives every year, but many lives are recklessly lost due to a shortage of organ donors.

Some people ask themselves, should I donate my body to science, I say, why not?

As today’s doctors and medical researchers continue to make huge advances and breakthroughs to better the welfare of society, there still remains an urgent problem. Several decades ago doctors performed the first organ transplantation, and have been using the procedure to treat patients with severe medical conditions who are in need of new organs to replace their diseased and damaged ones. While this form of treatment has proven very successful and beneficial to society, there still remains a major lack of organ donors. In fact, UNOS states that over 115,000 people are on a waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant and an average of twenty people die each day waiting for a transplant (UNOS, 2017). As this demand for organ and tissue donations continues to be unmet by the number of organ donors there are, people in need of these donations desperately seek a solution to their often life-threatening problem. One alternative solution is the black market for human organs. While this seems like a potentially good solution for those in need of organs to receive them and those in need of extra cash to benefit from giving up a “spare kidney” for example, the black market for human organs leads to a major problem: people in need being taken advantage of. While this type of trade often goes unnoticed and sometimes even unthought of by some, it is a very pressing problem because of the tremendously negative effects it has on both parties involved: both the buyers and sellers of the organs. However, there is a solution. While it is often very difficult to change public opinions and to change the way society feels in general towards a certain matter, the black market for human organs could be greatly reduced, if not eliminated, if the issue is made more public and shown as a criminal act with serious repercussions as organ donation is brought to the public’s attention as a humane and even necessary call to citizens.

How do you feel when you have to wait for something that you really, really want? What if it was something you couldn’t live without? Imagine you are lying in a hospital bed and you have no choice but to impatiently wait for that one organ you and your body are depending on to survive. Many people face this struggle every day. These people are waiting on a list for their perfect match… the perfect person to be their organ donor. An organ donor is a person who has an organ, or several organs, removed in ordered to be transplanted into another person.

All throughout the United States, many people deal with failures. Some happen in society, some happen within a household or family, but some happen within in one’s body. Organ donation is a procedure where a donor donates a specific organ to a recipient. The donor giving the recipient an organ can either be living or deceased. According to Livescience, “the number of people on the waiting list has soared upward increasing from 31,000 in 1993 to 101,000 in 2008.” “The success rate for organ transplantation is between eighty and ninety percent”(LiveOnNY). Knowing these statistics, organ donors must be paid for their donation because it can get more people off the waiting list, money could increase the number of living donors, helps the

The main difference between these two systems is how they view consent, the opt –out system assumes consent, the state automatically assume that every individual is a willing potential donor unless they take explicit steps to make their objections known. They are two types of the opt- out system: soft opt -out and hard opt -out systems. The soft opt- out system the doctors will take into account the wishes of the family, especially in cases were the decision would cause distress to the family. Spain, France and Belgium are example of countries that practice this system. Hard opt –out system the doctors can remove organs unless the person had registered their objection, the views of the relatives are not taken into consideration, Austria, Switzerland and Poland practice this legislation. However regardless of what system is in practice it is viewed as good practice to seek consent from the families, example in Spain they will not remove organs from a deceased person, even though they can from a legal standing.

Organ donation has remained the center of debate for years. This topic is something that generally has affected not only families of the organ donor but also nurses and doctors in the hospitals that are faced with difficult decisions regarding the right time to terminate a life. For a person to be a candidate for organ donation, they must die in a hospital, and their medical history must be considered. There are various organs that are in higher demand than others. Organ donation can certainly save a life or drastically improve the quality of another life. Many people claim that becoming an organ donor is the most altruistic behavior a person can engage in during their life. Those who oppose organ may be opposed for many reasons including religious reasons such as the Jewish Faith. Those of Jewish faith believe that the body is to be left whole in its entirety and that organ donation is not acceptable. A variety of other reasons exists as why people may be against organ donation.

What’s the ultimate gift? Keys to a brand new car? The latest phone? Or maybe something you have already; it’s natural and visceral: an organ. We don’t often think about our insides as gifts, but to a patient with artificial organs, it’d be Christmas morning twofold. For those on an organ waitlist, these organs can spell life or death so wouldn’t it be a wise idea to organize these organs? As it stands, our laws on organ donation don’t allow organs to get to those in need. Moreover, many patients suffer without organs that they could be receiving if our laws allowed them. Sadly, we’re in an organ drought it seems. So how can we hold a canteen to this organ desert? To satisfy this organ drought, we must find some solution, and that solution resides in the reform of our organ donation legislation. We should reform U.S. organ donation.

In the United States alone, there are about 120,000 people on the waiting list to receive a potentially lifesaving organ transplant (American). This number is so high, that many people will never receive the necessary organ in time. One simple way to help ease this number is by becoming an organ donor, which there are numerous ways to this. You can be a live donor and donate organs such as a kidney, liver, and bone marrow or you can also donate tissues, for example skin (American). The other option is register to be a donor when you die.

Sometimes the only cure for someone suffering and dying is to receive a new organ. Many people wait for years for compatible organs to become available. As this is happening, the need for organ donors is growing. In order to fully understand organ donation, educating oneself is the first most important thing. It has many benefits, including the importance of how many lives could be saved and how it impacts the world in a great way. The sociological theory that is associated to why organ donation should be mandatory is structural functionalism.

“Every 10 minutes, someone is added to the waiting list for an organ transplant and an average of 22 people die every day while waiting (“FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Announces Key Actions to Reduce the Organ Waiting List”).” Potential donors are often interested in donating a kidney, but are hesitant because their loved ones could need one in the future. Altruists are people who do not see any less value in a stranger’s life than in the lives of their loved ones. A stranger or acquaintance should not be viewed as any less deserving of resources. Upham said: “He met the woman who received his kidney at the hospital three days after the transplant and she died three months later of a stroke”, but Upham had no regrets. Donating one

system of donation is substantially more ethical than other systems around the world. One example of the superior ethics in place within the United States system is the “opt-in” feature in order to donate. This means that an individual has to sign up to become and organ donor. In contrast, many other countries such as Spain, France, Belgium, and Australia all have an “opt-out” system of donation which means people have to request to not be a donor. The opt-out system creates more donors, but also creates a very high risk for accidental or unwanted donation. The U.S. process ensures that no undesired donation occurs and certifies a much safer and ethical

Where you reside impacts the amount of time you endure waiting for a kidney. Desperate patients travel across the country to get on a much briefer waiting list. Certain parts of a country may have less availability and higher demand for organs than others, such as New York and California being one of the toughest places to receive an organ. For example, Steve Jobs traveled to Tennessee to be presented with a liver transplant, after he was told he would not live long enough to wait on the long list in California. However, not everyone can afford to just get up and travel outside their home state for a new organ, which is why the UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) are operating a plan to grant everyone a fair opportunity to receive an organ by dividing the nation into eight new districts for a much broader sharing.

There are currently 115,930 people on the national list awaiting an organ transplant (“Data”). These people wait patiently as death knocks on their door. In America, we can do so much to ensure that people will live on with the donations of organs. Unfortunately, many are unaware of the amount of people who are dying that are waiting for an organ. Organ donation is a great way to save someone's life, and continue the life of a loved one. Although it is a great way to give someone a new life many people are uninformed about donation and how valuable organs are. For example, did you know that in order for you to be recognized as a valid donor you must sign the back of your license?