Prison Organ Donors Essay

Prisoners as Organ Donors Each day, in the United States, 123,956 people are waiting for an organ donor. According to Becoming a Donor, 18 of those people die each day waiting for an organ donor that is not found in time. 1 donor can save 8 lives and change many more (organdonor.gov). There is great controversy on whether or not inmates should be allowed to be organ donors. My goal with this essay is to make everyone aware of the number of people who await an organ transplant and how allowing inmates to donate could relieve some of this burden. I believe inmates should be allowed to donate their organs, if they wish to be an organ donor. Each day, in the United States, there are thousands and thousands of people waiting for an organ transplant. A death row inmate who decides, upon his execution, to be an organ donor can save up to 8 lives with his organs, and change many more lives with tissues, bone marrow, and other donations. Inmates can also be living donors. If an inmate has a family member that needs a kidney and he is a match, I feel he should be able to donate. I do not think any …show more content…
I believe it is a person’s right to decide what happens to their body after death. It should not matter if they are in a hospital, their home, or prison when they die. The way executions are carried out should be changed to include ways that will not harm or destroy the tissues and organs of an inmate who wishes to be a donor. This would result in thousands of lives being changed or saved each year. If an inmate is going to die, it may help his soul to know he will help, possibly hundreds, after his death. The organs, of course, can be donated, but also tissues, skin, corneas, and many other parts can be used to save or change a life. Even unhealthy inmates could donate their bodies to science, to allow medical students to study what happens to a body because of certain