Organ Donation Ethical Issues- Argumentative Essay On Organ Donation

Abstract Organ donation doesn’t have an excessively long history. Medically, it started less than 80 years ago when in 1954 Dr. Josph Murray performed the first organ transplant at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston (Murray, 2005). He also received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work. Organ donation may have become more common, but it is still riddled with fear and moral/ethical challenges. While some organ donation has been more successful than others, the questions regarding the long-term benefits of organ donation persist. Do patients truly benefit from having a foreign body organ given to them? The complications can be severe from rejection to downright system failure. Then there is a whole body of research that focuses on the theological aspects of organ donation. However, like some other key decisions, organ donation is a very personal decision based entirely on a person’s religious, cultural, and ethical beliefs. This paper explores the challenges and benefits of organ donation from the perspective of supporters and opponents. It also focuses on theories that may influence a person’s decision to donate or refrain from it. Ethical Issues: Organ Donation Organ donation is