The Pros And Cons Of Organ Donation

To Give or Not To Give
Today, more than 120,000 patients in America are on the waiting list to receive a vital organ that would save their lives. Another name is added every twelve minutes. Far under this number is the number of donors willing to sign a donor card and donate their organs after their death. Only around twenty eight thousand of these transplants are filled every year; the others are still waiting and most are not too fortunate. As the number of waiting lists patients goes up, many people find that signing the organ donation card will bring them no real cost and is a noble deed, but the need for organ donors in America is increasing daily and doctors know that, which, is often an issue. Organ donation is a dominating controversial topic, many think it should be required to donate organs after death in America, however, there are opposing arguments that present a real case against it.
Throughout the last two centuries many scientific advances have been made in terms of organ transplants. Today transplants of organs such as kidneys, livers, hearts, pancreata, intestine, and lungs are considered routine medical treatment and are performed daily. In 1954 the first successful transplant, a kidney transplant, was performed by Doctor Joseph E. Murray in Boston, Massachusetts. This was a breakthrough in science and was just the beginning of a series of saved lives and extended opportunities. The number of first time transplants continued throughout the years, as did the success rate of transplants overall, especially in the 1980’s and 90’s. The research recently has slowed down now that the procedure of a transplant is so routine but continues still to be bettered by scientists and their technology and will be at alm...

... middle of paper ...

...patients in need of organs, which she could give them.
It has been suggested many times that donation of vital organs, in America, should be mandatory when the organs are no longer needed by the donor because the number of organs needed greatly exceeds the number of organs donated and the act of donating comes with no real cost for the donor. On the other hand is the fact that many doctors are unethical in their practice of medicine and there have been multiple cases of deaths that were not actual deaths, leaving many in suspicion of the practice itself. As of today, it is an American’s choice whether they want to donate their organs when they die; it is part of the constitutional freedoms, but on such a topic, should Americans compromise one small freedom in the act of saving lives because after all the motto is there should be no man left behind.