Reply To: Is it mutar to be an organ donor?

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#853675
Sam2
Participant

Hello: My point was that there is a perception that Jews won’t donate organs for religious reasons and therefore many people would be unwilling to donate organs to Jews. That is a true Pikuach Nefesh, whether or not someone’s organs personally go to Jews. Nivul Hameis is easily pushed off Mishum Eivah. Murder is not. Thus, I would never say to take an organ from a person with a heartbeat (even though I think that those who say that brain-stem death is death have much to rely on, I agree that those who define death by a heartbeat also have much to rely on) if that person holds it is murder. Taking organs after cessation of a heartbeat is perfectly okay though, and Eivah should push off Nivul Hameis.

Health: You saying that logically Eivah shouldn’t apply doesn’t make it so. Look at the current attitudes towards Jews in Europe and Israel in general on organ donations and then tell me that there is no Eivah there. Whether or not we can give a good logical argument to remove Eivah doesn’t change the fact that people will have emotional responses that could lead to Jewish deaths. The Poskim give the perfect logic that we can say to non-Jews that we are only Mechalel Shabbos for those who worship Shabbos. And yet, the Chassam Sofer published his famous T’shuvah Mishum Eivah. And once again, just because a lot is done when the person has a pulse doesn’t meant that you can’t sign a card saying that organs can only be harvested after the heart has stopped beating.