From my post above, you can see that I have unorthodox views on suicide, and I retain these views and desires. Because of this, I must say that I acknowledge that what I say is purely my opinion, take it or leave it. I hope you will interpret this as such, and not as me trying to preach to you.

I think it’s kind of sad that you say that you don’t want to die, but that you’d like to sacrifice your life to someone else. You are a human being, and you have value, and you deserve happiness in this life. You are not a sacrificial lamb. For you to commit suicide for the purpose of organ donation to some random stranger would not be an admirable or moral act. In fact, it would be (in my opinion at least) a reprehensible and immoral action. You have been given the gift of human life which is the most beautiful and wonderful thing in this world. To want to “sacrifice” yourself, as you say, in this way would be to deny your own humanity, and to claim yourself not even worthy to be alive and breathe. This would not be a moral teaching, it is inhumane poison. Perhaps you actually are suicidal, and you just prefer to believe that your desire to die is purely altruistic. If so, I would encourage you to be honest with yourself and take steps to change your life so you will no longer feel this way. I don’t know you, so I will not elaborate on this possibility.

Let’s assume that you actually do wish to help people. There are many ways you can do this. You could get involved with a charitable organization that helps the poor in your community or in foreign countries. I am extremely secular, but there are many church/religious organizations that help people, as well as many secular ones. You could work to help infrastructure and development in economically disadvantaged countries. This kind of work could help scores more than your idea of sacrifice. Your idea of sacrifice would not be the one which would help the most people–it’s just the laziest way you could help people, without doing any actual work. Also, you would not be considering the pain, suffering, and guilt it would cause to those close to you. If you have a passion to help others, I think you can do better than that.

You said yourself that you are young, so you should have a lot of time to think about this before taking drastic action. Maybe you disagree with my assessment. Maybe your brain just works different than probably most other people in the world, and you will wish to do this. In that case, I would say that there is no rush. There will still be people in dire need or organ donation 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now, so you are not doing the world any favors by checking out now. I would hope that by that time you would place a higher value on your life. You have shown by your post that you to some degree care about the people around you, and I think the world needs more people like that and not less.

I’ll admit I’m young, but I want to give someone else my life, not because I want to die or because I want to commit suicide, it’s because I care. I don’t see anthing truly fantastic happening in my future when at the hospital there could be someone who is going to cure cancer for all we know.

It’s sacrifice. Not suicide.

First, this discussion shows a lack of understanding about the process or organ donation. Both my father and brother have recieved kidneys–one a cadaver, one a live donor.

With a cadaver donation, you don’t get told anything about who is making the donation. The only information may be about an elderly person (over 65) who is a match for a younger person. Then there is an option to hold out for a younger donor or take the less viable donation (this is usually in extreme cases or when the person has been on the list for a while). So I don’t see a practical way to allow people to say no to a deathrow or suicide donor–one doesn’t get an option based on personal taste (imagine people refusing based on race or sex!), one only gets an option when there is a medical reason. Cause of death is not a medical reason, the condition of the organ is.

A living person can donate a kidney, a lung, a piece of liver (it regenerates), bone marrow, blood, and plasma. Maybe not a heart or pancreas, but still pretty good. Many lives saved. One doesn’t have to be dead to donate.

It is complete unethical to encourage suicide as a means to organ donation. A more effective way to get more organ donations is to have people opt out instead of opting in–in Europe it is assumed that you will donate upon death unless you specify otherwise, in the US it is opposite. Donation rates are dramaticly different.

Personally, I also feel that compensating the donating family for medical and/or funeral costs or, for a live donation, out-of-pocket expenses, would increase the number of people willing to do so.

As for live donors–there is already a rather long process to go through in order to be allowed to donate, including financial and psychological counselling. If there is the slightest hint of coercion, the transplant can be called off. I can’t even imagine what a system designed to allow suicide would entail.

First ethic: the medical system is designed to save viable lives. No exceptions. (Someone with a terminal illness, by definition, isn’t viable, which is why some states have started allowing assisted-suicide in those cases. But the understanding is that there is no hope and little quality of life.) To take advantage of a mentally ill person who is otherwise healthy would be completely unethical. The medical system would have to do everything in their power to prevent the suicide, which includes hospitalization, medication, and a suicide watch. So I would think it impossible to have medically sanctioned suicide-donation.

People contemplating suicide and organ donation should try just organ donation first. You get a nice stay in a hospital and the admiration and attention of everyone around you. You save a life, a heroic act.

No problem. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I welcome open discussion on the matter. I also appreciate your acknowledging the other side respectfully even if you don’t agree with it.

I should point out, however, that I was not suggesting taking everyone who commits suicide and simply harvesting their organs against their will. That wouldn’t really work anyway since the organs would have decayed beyond use quite rapidly under “normal” suicide circumstances.

I was just suggesting providing the option for people who take their lives to be able to do it in a way that allows their organs to be used, if that is what they want. And I have received a pretty high amount of feedback from people suggesting that they would want this.

Also, you stated that you wouldn’t want an organ from someone who had taken their own life. While I think anyone might reconsider that position after an extended period on a waiting list with declining health, I also think that it would be possible for people on waiting lists to deny suicide-related organs and have them go to the next person on the list who didn’t have that issue.

But I was. I’m not going to lie. I really was and I googled organ donation and suicide since not so long ago I was reading an article about how an actress from the spiderman 3 movie recently hit the big switch..

The very idea of this to me makes me angry. I see that there is good coming from this, but just the idea ticked me off. (selfish right?)

Anyways, thanks for not deleting my post. I just felt like it would be very hurtful if I for some God-forsaken reason wound up hitting my own switch and then someone taking my organs. I’d feel defiled. Like the world really did want me out of the way so they could get my organs. I’d feel justified in despising the world.

I personally wouldn’t want a heart, lung or anything else from someone who didn’t value their own life. I want to live, but not with the help of someone who doesn’t want to.

-you’re a good mod for not deleting my post.. I honestly was sorta sure you would. Thanks for proving me wrong. (No.. I’m not down in the dumps.. but having your heart broken shortens the path.. been there.)

I might question upon reading your comment whether you’ve ever:

(a) been so “down in the dumps” that you have been in the same boat as people who would consider participating in such a system,

(b) lost anybody to suicide and been unable to find anything even remotely positive or healing to grasp from the situation or

(c) lost anybody you care about while they were on a waiting list for organs.

“Hey, I know the world’s taken everything you love that makes life worth living, but I’d really like to take other parts of you. No really! And remember, you’re not alone in your struggle -we’ll be right here with our ice boxes awaiting your failure to thrive. Just tell us when you’re about to hit the big switch -kay? Kthnxbye!”