Check out the medical news out of the Vatican, as covered by my Religion News Service colleague Francis X. Rocca:
(The first story relates to my previous blog posts about Arizona’s ex-Catholic hospital and Pope Benedict’s confusing condoms comment. As for the latter, well, Pope Benedict’s organs are either too holy or too old to be donated, depending on whom you ask!)
I’m a registered organ donor, but I don’t have a problem with people having religious or other objections to donating their organs. However, given all the people who die while waiting for a transplant, I have long wondered why we don’t have presumed consent as the default setting, and folks can opt out if they prefer to keep their bodies intact. Maybe there could be a health insurance benefit or some kind of tax incentive for not opting out. No? (This isn’t a bizarre proposal — presumed consent policies have been proposed in Colorado, New York, Israel, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.)
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
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