Alexis Bonatch

Dr. Baumeister

Biomedical Ethics

May 13th, 2021

Death Penalty and Organ Donation

Hypothetically, say there are two men who are 65, both in good overall health, both with

a family, and both need a kidney transplant. The one difference between them is that one is

sitting on death row for the murder of two young women. Who does the organ go to? According

to the law, the organ goes to the person who has been on the organ transplant list for a longer

time, but what if that happened to be the person on death row? Would you let the healthy,

innocent man suffer and allow the criminal to live?

People always say “all lives matter,” but are there times when this could be questioned?

Personally, this raised a lot of questions for me - what do we do when “the tough choices of

rationing fall hard upon us, and we are forced to ask: Who should get what share of limited

health care goods and services? In countless troubling instances, the question reduces to this:

Who should live and who must die? In nearly the same breath we have to ask: On what ethical

grounds do we make these choices?” (Justice and Health Care, pg 754)

It is said that we need to be empathetic, “described as the ability to take on the

perspective, or ‘feel’ the emotions of another person,” (Jongsma/Klar 1) towards all people no

matter what their religion, race, gender, or background is. But does that still apply when

someone is sitting on death row for two murders? Should their life matter as much as the one

who has not committed a crime? Should they be allowed to take an organ away from someone
else who is innocent? All of these questions represent the ethical issues involved with organ

transplantation and are very controversial within the community.

“Transplant operations are incredibly expensive, organs are in very short supply, and

transplants are desperately needed by far more people than can be accommodated. The waiting

list for transplants is long, and thousands die every year for their lack.” (Justice and Health Care

754). Organ transplants are such a special gift from a person; they are willing to give away a

part of them in order to save another person. They want to be able to give life to someone else

that could lose theirs. I am not so sure that I, or some other people, would want to know that my

precious organ was going to a murderer. Some may argue that this should not matter; that both

men in the mentioned scenario should be evaluated equally. Others may claim that the person on

death row should not receive the organ as they have already had a chance at life before they

committed the crime. Obviously there is no true answer to these questions as there are so many

differing opinions on them, but it’s important to discuss and bring them to light. These

controversies bring forth the ethical dilemmas that are so prevalent today.

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the killing of a person as

punishment for a severe crime that they commited. Only the most horrific crimes, including

serial murder and rape, are sentenced to death row. If this is the case, then why would we as a

country put tax payer money into saving these people using organ transplantation? Why should

we take that organ away from the law abiding citizen? Some argue that if the prisoner who needs

an organ is costing the taxpayers money anyways by having to buy the necessary medicine and

constantly going to the doctors, then giving them an organ might actually be cheaper than letting

them remain sick. For example, if the prisoner needs dialysis, it can cost up to $120,000 a year,

which could eventually cost more than doing the transplant itself. But in my opinion, there is a
cost associated with getting an organ; a gift from someone who wanted to help another human.

There is a moral “cost” to honor the person that wanted to donate that organ. Although there is a

very slight risk that a person could be innocent on death row, the chances are extremely slim as

the court is very thorough when determining a person’s sentence. I realize that most of the time

the prisoners sit on death row for up to 10-15 years waiting for trails and appeals. I am not

arguing that they can not have adequate medical treatment during this time, but if it means taking

away an organ from a law abiding person, then I stand by my argument that they should not be

given the preference to getting that organ. There are multiple other options when regarding organ

failure that could be allocated if it was needed.

I personally feel that we need to have a better system in place for organ donations and

that the famous “organ transplant list” has multiple flaws that should be reconsidered. If we are

going to have the death penalty in the United States and we are going to continue to use it as a

punishment for the most horrendous crimes then we need to use common sense in their medical

care. If the end game plan is that these people are going to be put to death for their crimes

(which is the intent of the death penalty), then it is my belief that they should be eligible for

normal healthcare services to give them a comfortable living while they sit on death row, but

they should not be allowed to gain the gift of a precious organ that is being offered for the

purpose of giving someone a longer and healthier life.