New paper revives ‘death by organ donation’ proposal for ‘assisted suicide’ patients
The proposal would allow organ retrieval to become the cause of death in some cases, prompting warnings that it could erode trust among organ donors.
A new academic paper is reviving debate over “death by organ donation,” proposing that organs be retrieved from “assisted suicide” patients before they are declared dead.
Current law prohibits the practice under the dead donor rule, which requires patients to be declared dead before organs are removed and bars doctors from causing death through organ procurement.
But the paper’s authors argue the growing acceptance of voluntary euthanasia has fundamentally changed the ethical landscape, as first reported by the National Post.
