Why Organ Donation Should Be Mandatory

Mandatory Organ Donation In the United States today, people lose their lives to many different causes. Though this is tragic, there are also a large group of people who could benefit from these deaths; and those people are people in need of an organ transplant. Although a sudden or tragic death can be heart breaking to a family, they could feel some relief by using their loved ones' organs to save the lives of many others. This act of kindness, though, can only be done with consent of both the victim and the family; making the donation of organs happen much less than is needed. The need for organs is growing every day, but the amount provided just is not keeping up. Because of the great lack of organ donors, the constant need for organs, and the wonderful gift-giving opportunity an organ provides, mandatory organ donation should be implemented. The first organ transplant to ever take place was in 1954, with the successful transplantation of a kidney from a living donor. Although this was a large milestone, there were still many strides to take before an organ would be successfully transplanted from a dead donor to a living recipient. In fact, organ donation did not become something to regularly take place until the late 1980's, when medical technology was much more advanced. The main reason organ donation was not regularly performed until nearly 30 years after the first transplant is because it was hardly ever successful until then (Timeline of Historical Events). Organs must be removed from a deceased donor within 60 minutes of the heart not beating, any later and the organs will begin the decaying process and will no longer be good to use (Brain Disease; New Tool). When that happens, the already small number of available organs will fail to increase, causing even more of a problem with the growing need of patients not receiving them. The system is devised so that the sickest patients with the greatest need receive organs first, and though that is the best way