And since I have chronic problems, I have no problem giving blood (they certainly take a lot, why not use it?) but nope. Military people who went abroad from the East Coast are most affected and in the military, they own your body, so by the time your kid’s school drive rolls around, you’re ready.

Last spring, one teacher had an extra credit assignment – give blood at the on campus blood bank (lifeblood? redcross? hello brain, wakey wakey), get ten points. I almost jumped across the desk, I was so pissed! However, you could get the points if you got somebody else to give blood. (Which I did. Hated that class, needed all possible points.)

Organ donation – I checked it on my state ID card, but I don’t know if they’ll want anything.

Naamah – I’d like to say I don’t believe (not that you’re lying) the attitudes you described. Except… yeah. I can see it happening.

In my family, my mom and I are comfortable with what we’ll do with our bodies after we die – let others live, go to a medical school for slicing and dicing… burials are too expensive and wasteful. My sister isn’t mature enough for such a discussion. I wonder what she has on her driver’s license.

But until they can assure me that they aren’t still making those kinds of value judgements on deserving sick people, I can’t do it. (And my blood, well, I don’t ever meet criteria).

I have heard people complain that if they donated blood (or organs, but the conversations I had were about blood) how would they know it wouldn’t go to [category of "undesirable" and "undeserving" persons, typically a racial minority, but possibly also someone with a disease that is "their fault"]. That almost physically hurts me to hear. It makes me so angry, and hurts my feelings so deeply. Is that REALLY their reason for not donating? What does that say about a person? I don’t understand it at all. I don’t care who my blood goes to. Just let it go to someone who needs it! And if I want to donate, nobody should say a goddamn thing about it. Yes, I’ve been criticised FOR giving blood. What the fuck?

On the flip side, I am not an organ donor, though I would probably be eligible. I don’t much appreciate being shamed on that point, as I have what are, to me, quite compelling reasons not to do that which I do not need to share with or justify to anyone else, ever, at all. I certainly don’t want an “opt-out” system in place, though I can understand the grief and desperation that leads to suggesting such measures. I have enough of a problem trusting that my wishes will be followed without having to worry about blanket assumptions being made that include doing things to my dead/dying body without my permission.

So, yes, here, as with so many other areas of life, a person’s wishes and situations should be respected either way. Loved this post.

I would agree that it would be a rather unfair law if it were only the individual taken into account, but I do think that allowing first-degree relatives’ choices to act as collateral for an ineligible or unwilling participant grants greater leniency and fairness.

What? No it doesn’t. It means you’re even further fucked if your family isn’t healthy too.

I’m definitely uncomfortable with the donation system in Israel as described in this post and above comments. There’s way too much room for abuse in my opinion.

I like the idea of being a donor being the default, but definitely with the option to opt-out for religious/ethical/whatever reasons.

(Incidentally, at least in the states I’ve lived in, “organ donation” covers tissue donation and medical research as well, so even if one’s organs aren’t suitable for transplant, it can still be worth signing up if you are inclined to support that.)

I agree with anjak- j that death and associated issues really something that needs to be talked about more. I think advance directives should be highly encouraged from 18 onward–we never know what could happen (and they’re a kindness to our families as well, or at least my dad’s was for me–although I signed forms as medical PoA, I knew that everything I was doing was what he had wanted, so I didn’t have to make any hard decisions or worry about whether I was making the right choices).

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in being in this kind of situation, and I don’t think my transplant chances, should I ever need one, should rest on my ability to donate or that of my immediate family.

I’ve always believed the answer to increasing the pool of prospective donors isn’t in ‘opt-out’ schemes or coercing people into organ donation. It is in talking more freely about death and people’s wishes for their body when they die. And in actually listening to people’s wishes without prejudice. Or in the ability to sign advanced consent forms to be placed in your medical records so that your wishes are carried out as you intended and not bypassed by family members who wouldn’t listen or with differing beliefs.