Thoughs on "Giving Life After Death Row"

I never got the chance to blog last week about the remarkable New York Times op-ed piece “Giving Life After Death Row,” by Christian Longo, a condemned prisoner at Oregon State Penitentiary.  Here are excerpts:

Eight years ago I was sentenced to death for the murders of my wife and three children. I am guilty....  I spend 22 hours a day locked in a 6 foot by 8 foot box on Oregon’s death row.  There is no way to atone for my crimes, but I believe that a profound benefit to society can come from my circumstances.  I have asked to end my remaining appeals, and then donate my organs after my execution to those who need them.  But my request has been rejected by the prison authorities....

There is no law barring inmates condemned to death in the United States from donating their organs, but I haven’t found any prisons that allow it.  The main explanation is that Oregon and most other states use a sequence of three drugs for lethal injections that damages the organs.  But Ohio and Washington use a larger dose of just one drug, a fast-acting barbiturate that doesn’t destroy organs.  If states would switch to a one-drug regimen, inmates’ organs could be saved....

Aside from these logistical and health concerns, prisons have a moral reason for their reluctance to allow inmates to donate.  America has a shameful history of using prisoners for medical experiments. In Oregon, for example, from 1963 to 1973, many inmates were paid to “volunteer” for research into the effects of radiation on testicular cells.  Some ethicists believe that opening the door to voluntary donations would also open the door to abuse.  And others argue that prisoners are simply unable to make a truly voluntary consent.

But when a prisoner initiates a request to donate with absolutely no enticements or pressure to do so, and if the inmate receives the same counseling afforded every prospective donor, there is no question in my mind that valid organ-donation consent can be given.  

I am not the only condemned prisoner who wants the right to donate his organs.  I have discussed this issue with almost every one of the 35 men on Oregon’s death row, and nearly half of them expressed a wish to have the option of donating should their appeals run out....  If I donated all of my organs today, I could clear nearly 1 percent of my state’s organ waiting list. I am 37 years old and healthy; throwing my organs away after I am executed is nothing but a waste.

And yet the prison authority’s response to my latest appeal to donate was this: “The interests of the public and condemned inmates are best served by denying the petition.” Many in the public, most inmates, and especially those who are dying for lack of a healthy organ, would certainly disagree.

I made sure to find time to blog this piece today in part because today's New York Times includes this bunch of interesting letters in response to the Longo commentary.