Becoming an Organ Donor

Kellsie Boumont
General Purpose: to persuade
Specific Purpose: to persuade audience to become organ donors
Thesis Statement: Are you, or have you considered being an organ donor?
Becoming an Organ Donor
Introduction
Enough people to populate a small city, over 100,000, are waiting for an organ donation in the United States right now. Unfortunately, thousands will die waiting for that call saying a suitable donor organ, and a second chance at life, has been found. Are you, or have you considered being an organ donor? For some of us, it is as simple as checking the “yes” box on our drivers license forms. But for others, this isn’t as simple of a decision. The shortage of organ donors in the United States is a national crisis, but it as a cure.
Problem
First I’ll start off by addressing a couple of the many reasons why people aren’t quite as on board with organ donation as others. According to the article “Organ Donation,” from Mayo Clinic’s Foundation for Medical Education and Research as found on Mayo Clinic’s official website, updated in 2013, a leading cause as to why people don’t agree to become an organ donor after they die is because they think it is against their religion. But what most people don’t know is that organ donation in consistent with the beliefs of most religions. This includes Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, and most branches of Judaism. If you’re unsure of or uncomfortable with your faiths position on donation, ask a member of your clergy and get the facts. Another common reason as why people aren’t becoming organ donors is because they are under the age of 18, and believe they are too young to make this decision. This is actually true, in a legal sense. But your parents can authorize this decision. You can express to your parents your wish to donate and your parents can give their consent knowing that it’s what you wanted. Children, too, are in need of organ transplants, and they usually need smaller organs than those that an adult can offer. I don’t know about you, but just the thought of an innocent child in dire need of an organ transplant is enough to make me on board. These are only two of the countless number of reasons as to why people aren’t becoming organ donors. Each day people wait to sign up, 100 people are added to the national transplant waiting list, along with an additional 17 people that die each day all because the organ they so desperately needed never became available. Out of the roughly 315,000,000 people in the United States, there is no reason for so many people to die because of an “unavailable” organ. If more people said yes to donation, fewer lives would be lost. According to the article “Why You Should Be an Organ Donor,” by Nick Ousley, as found on Hubpages, updated in 2008, a 2008 University of Minnesota study found that 97% of Americans support donation, yet data from the Department of Public Safety, shows that only an alarming 43% of Americans have “donor” marked on their drivers license. And the most commonly cited reason individuals report for not having “donor” on their driver’s license, is simply because they “haven’t gotten around to it.” Now, if this doesn’t prove how shockingly lazy over half of our country is, I don’t know what does. People’s lives are being lost to this crisis, and it needs to be taken seriously. But more importantly, action needs to be taken immediately.
Solution
Now that I have expressed to you how critical and alarming this problem is, I will propose a few different solutions. According to the article, “Organ Donor FAQs,” from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as found on Organdonor.gov, updated in 2012, there is a new convenient way for Americans to become a donor. With new resources, not having time to register as a donor on your driver’s license is no longer an excuse. In 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty became the first Minnesotan to register as an organ and tissue donor on the country’s new online registry. Think about the last time you were getting a license, its hectic and most often times a long wait. And for most of us, you were too excited about finally being able to drive that becoming an organ donor was one of the last things on your mind. But now the online registry allows you to mark your wishes when you want. The online registry is a secure database that records the same information as the driver license to ensure that the person’s wish to be a donor is fulfilled. According to “Living Organ Donors” from the American Medical Association, as found on Amednews.com, updated in 2013, being an organ donor can be one of the most rewarding gifts a single person can give, and one of the only gifts a person is able to give after they are no longer living. Organ donation can offer another person a new chance at life when certain organs or tissues no longer function. One organ donor can save or improve as many as 50 lives, and statistics show that many people live long and healthy lives after receiving a transplant.
Take a look at Lance Lyngaas, our fellow classmate’s father who died in a tragic and very unfortunate accident two years ago. Lance was marked as a donor at the time of his death and because of this, was able to save someone’s life. Many families say that knowing that their loved one helped save others lives helped them cope with their loss. Weather you know it or not, there are people all around us waiting for a life changing organ transplant, including Mrs. Werner’s father and Kyla’s grandfather. But there are currently only 80 million Americans signed up to be an organ donor after their own death, a rate that just isn’t enough.
Conclusion
Now that you have some of the facts, you can see that that being on organ donor can and will make a big difference, and not just to one person. So again, I ask you this: are you, or have you considered becoming an organ donor? It can he hard to think about what’s going to happen to your body after you die, let alone donating your organs and tissue. But being an organ donor is one of the most generous and worthwhile decisions that can be a lifesaver. You have the power and opportunity to save lives, why wouldn’t you take it?