Doctors grapple with organ donation question

National Post

Sharon Kirkey

As the nation awaits legalized doctor-assisted death, the transplant community is grappling with a potential new source of life-saving organs  –  offered by patients who have chosen to die.

Some surgeons say every effort should be made to respect the dying wishes of people seeking assisted death, once the Supreme Court of Canada ruling comes into effect next year, including the desire to donate their organs.

But the prospect of combining two separate requests  –  doctor-assisted suicide and organ donation  –  is creating profound unease for others. Some worry those contemplating assisted suicide might feel a societal pressure to carry through with the act so that others might live, or that it could undermine struggling efforts to increase Canada’s mediocre donor rate. . . [Full text]

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