Is Organ Harvesting Euthanasia Patients Unleashing Ethical Crisis?

Are several countries making euthanasia too profitable by joining assisted suicide to organ harvesting? It’s a not-so-brave new world and a new ethical dilemma comes with it.

I would argue that assisted suicide and euthanasia are always wrong, but that’s a topic for another time. What happens if someone wants medically assisted suicide — and also offers to donate organs? How great is the danger that the person becomes simply a commodity or, even worse, that the person is encouraged to commit suicide rather than receiving help because of the organs’ value?

In an October commentary piece for Epoch Times, patient rights champion, author, and podcast host Wesley J. Smith wrote about several countries where “shortage of organs for transplantation is threatening to unleash immoral and unethical remedies,” as assisted suicide threatens to become a too-profitable source for organs. He mentioned the example of a 16-year-old Belgian girl who requested assisted suicide due to a brain tumor — and agreed to have her organs harvested. The teen spent 36 hours sedated and intubated in an ICU for the “examination” of her organs. After that she was euthanized, and her organs were harvested. The girl was not offered help toward choosing not to commit suicide; her organs were treated as more valuable than she was.