TRANSPLANT BULLIES !

January 2008

From time to time we hear of some unfortunate person, most often a child, who is said to be in desperate need of an organ transplant of some kind.

Radio, television and the press all play their part in publicising the plight of this poor child, frequently overstepping the bounds of decency in their attempts to bully those people who, like me, have no wish to be involved in the transplant trade. We are portrayed as selfish, uncaring bigots of little value to society. Strongly held religious beliefs are dismissed as mere "superstition", and any legitimate medical concerns people may have are ignored altogether.

The attitude of these self-righteous morons is that anybody suffering any kind of life-threatening organ failure somehow has an absolute right to a transplant, and that those of us who, for whatever reason, aren't willing to become organ donors are nothing but callous, inhuman monsters, needlessly and selfishly denying others the right to live, just one step removed from actual murderers.

This really makes me angry. Who do these people think they are? What do they think gives them the right to publicly insult anybody who chooses not to carry a donor card? Do these "little Hitlers" really imagine themselves to be superior to the rest of us in some way? Don't we each have a right to form our own opinions? What about the Jews, Muslims and others who believe in the sanctity of the human body, living or dead? Are these groups to be demonised because of their beliefs?

Those directly involved in the lucrative transplant profession use these cases to justify their continuing campaign for a change in the law, from the present "opt in" system, where those who want to donate their organs carry a card, to an "opt out" system in which organs may freely be "harvested" from anybody not carrying a card. Even as I write this, Gordon Brown is talking about "presumed consent", which would deny us the right to protect our own bodies, or those of our loved ones, from desecration by money-hungry butchers.

STOP!

NOBODY has an absolute right to live beyond what God or nature intended. We must do everything in our power to help the sick, but that doesn't justify trampling people's beliefs and fears into the dirt as if they don't matter. Some people believe in transplants. These are the ones who carry donor cards. Not everybody wants to support this trade though, and nobody has the right to bully or vilify those of us who, for whatever reason, find transplant surgery repellent.

Some people object to the cutting of the body on religious grounds, as they have every right to do. Religion is much more than mere superstition. Without a belief in the continuation of life, this short visit to Planet Earth would mean nothing. Religion is what gives meaning to life. If it were true that we cease to exist the moment the body dies, there would be no point to life, no point to anything, no reason even for the universe to exist. People have both an absolute right and a moral duty to live according to their beliefs, religious or otherwise, and nobody has a right to interfere in this.

Religion also provides comfort to the bereaved, and if the patient doesn't get his or her transplant in time, it was clearly "not meant to be". Those who have faith will know beyond all possible doubt that their loved one has gone to a much better place where they will eventually be reunited, and even those with no beliefs at all can take some comfort from the indisputable fact that there is no more suffering.

There are other concerns though, medical concerns which seldom receive any publicity, things the medical profession would rather we didn't think about or even know about. One of these is the fact that the transplant profession continually redefines "clinical death", always in the same direction, always with the organ "harvest" in mind.

Obviously the "fresher" an organ the better the chance that it will "take", and this is the sole reason for the existence of the term "clinical death" as distinct from actual death. For example, it is no secret that hearts for transplant are removed while they are still beating!

To remove a heart involves major surgery, much more violent than actual butchery. The ribs have to be cut or broken, and it has to be done quickly. There's no time to be gentle. After all, the "donor" is now classified as "clinically" dead, making such considerations meaningless. The dead don't feel pain, so there's no need to be gentle any more.

Imagine somebody doing that to you though, while your heart still beats. You're "clinically dead", so there can be no anaesthetic. Who'd bother anaesthetising a corpse? Almost certainly you'll be unconscious, but what if you're not? What if, though paralysed perhaps, you can feel everything they're doing? You're only "clinically" dead. You're not really dead. Not yet.

Your heart is still beating. Your other organs continue to function. Who can say when the soul leaves the body, or for those who don't believe in the continuation of life, when the consciousness is really ended? Nobody can, but the transplant vampires keep changing the point at which we may be declared "clinically dead" so they can "harvest" (their word) our organs at the earliest possible moment.

When we're certified "clinically dead", we aren't really dead, but dying. What finally ends the life of an "organ donor" is the removal of vital organs. Nobody can live for more than a few minutes without a heart, and they do like to remove this organ while it's still beating strongly.

What if the diagnosis of "clinical death" comes too soon? What if we can still feel everything as they tear our chests open, cutting through flesh, hacking and sawing through the ribcage and then clawing the lungs aside to get at the great treasure, that highly-prized and highly-priced organ, the still-beating heart? What if true death only starts once this is in their hands, leaving the "dead" patient to endure another two or three minutes of agony before the final release from the excruciating pain caused by this violent act of desecration?

In reality it probably wouldn't be as bad as I've described it. Almost certainly such extreme pain would cause us to lose consciousness within a short time, our own bodies providing the needed anaesthetising effect denied us by the medical vultures, but the fact remains that their actions are what ended this life, perhaps minutes or hours before what some might call "God's appointed time".

What if they want your eyes? They'll want these as fresh as possible too, and it isn't true that eyes can simply be "popped out". This is a common myth, but really the eyes are attached to some very strong muscles that need to be cut through before the eyeball can be removed. It's usually only the cornea they want though, so there's no need to remove the entire eyeball. They just cut a disc from the cornea, the transparent front surface, or "skin", of the eye, using a special tool. What if you're not yet "properly" dead though?

These are perfectly valid concerns that must be considered by all potential donors, and to denounce those of us who choose not to carry donor cards as callous, superstitious bigots who care nothing for the suffering of others shows a total lack of respect for, and understanding of, the rights of the individual to say "no" when confronted with something he or she personally considers unacceptable.

Success rates were poor in the early days of transplant surgery, with the transplanted organ often needing to be replaced with yet another one after as little as two or three years. Now they don't tell us, so most assume dramatic improvements have been made. Perhaps this is true, but still the recipient has to take anti-rejection drugs for life, poisons that paralyse the body's natural defences against infection and can have unpleasant, even dangerous "side effects". For some this will be an acceptable price to pay in order to have an extended lifetime. Others would rather not have the pain and continuing fear of rejection and repeated operations. Only the individual can decide.

I don't feel the need to explain my own reasons for not wanting to be an organ donor. My reasons are just that, my own. They may be religious. They may be medical. They may be something not mentioned here. Whatever my objections may be, I carry a card making my wishes clear, and I suggest that other "dissidents" do the same before the law is quietly changed to allow the transplant profession to "assume consent", meaning they can take - and sell - our organs unless we specifically state otherwise. It will happen, and I doubt that it will receive much publicity when it does.

Some people are happy to allow their body to be stripped of every transplantable organ, including their eyes, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines, perhaps things that aren't normally transplanted, such as the brain and even the genitals if they happen to be of interest to researchers for any reason, while others prefer to "limit the damage" by offering only certain organs. The concept of "presumed consent" means that literally anything may be taken, so anybody who wants to impose limits must make their wishes known in advance.

I'm not callous. I'm not selfish. I'm not uncaring. When I see yet another poor child waiting for a transplant I feel the anguish as much as anybody, and I fully sympathise with the parents, knowing only too well what they're going through, but I have very good reasons not to want to participate in the transplant trade, whether as a donor or as a recipient, and I WILL NOT be bullied into compromising my principles and beliefs by some self-righteous idiot, usually on the radio, who thinks he is better qualified than I am to make my own decisions.

Those who believe in organ transplants are free to do what's right for them. It's not for me to interfere. Similarly, it's not for radio presenters and the like to try to impose their own views on others. Those of us who object have our reasons, and these are no less valid for being unfashionable or unpopular (dare I say unprofitable?). It may be that one day I'll die for the lack of a transplant. So be it. It's my choice. We all have to go at some time.

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