The most incredible gift a person could receive on earth is the gift of life. Every day, nineteen people die while on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Of the 118,000 patients on the waiting list from this past year, only about 28,000 transplants were performed. The problem at hand is that there are more people in critical need of life saving organ transplants than there are healthy organs available to donate. By choosing to be an organ donor, thousands of unnecessary deaths can be prevented and the number of lives saved can greatly increase. Everyone should be an organ donor because there is a desperate need for organs, organ donation positively affects people, and it has the power to save thousands of lives. 

Everyone should choose to become an organ donor in order to save lives. It seems like such a simple solution to a major problem. However, there are many reasons as to why people decide not to have their organs donated after they pass away. One reason is that people simply do not want to think about mortality. It is common knowledge that death is a sensitive topic, so naturally people avoid having to talk or think about it. Because of this, people either decide to ignore the fact that eventually they will pass away or they do not want to think about what to do with their bodies after death. However, these ideas and lack of contemplation are preventing patients from receiving lifesaving organ transplants. 

There are some common myths that come to mind when people think about organ donation. These myths are driven by fear and misinformation. One major myth is that organ donation goes against religions, and therefore, people choose not register as an organ donor. However, all major organized religions support an individual’s decision to be an organ donor. If a person is not sure about their religion’s stance regarding organ or tissue donation, they should ask their faith leader or hospital chaplain for an informed answer instead of just choosing not to be a donor. Most religions consider donation is a charitable act that saves and enhances lives and is a good reason for why everyone should be an organ donor. Another myth about organ donation is that age and health matters when deciding whether or not to be an organ donor. This is incorrect because a person can choose at any point in their life to become a donor. An article written by the staff at the Mayo Clinic states that, “The decision to use your organs is based on strict medical criteria, not age” (Mayo). It is only at the time of death that the transplant team considers the quality of the deceased’s organs, so health or age should not deter a person from deciding to become a donor. One myth about organ donation that people fear is that if a person is involved in an accident and becomes a critical patient in the hospital, doctors will not put as much effort into saving their life if they are an organ donor. However, this myth is untrue because doctors put the same amount of effort into saving every patient, regardless of organ donation status. All doctors take an oath that vows that they will provide care to the best of their abilities in order to save a person’s life. Again, it is not until the patient is declared dead that organ donation is even mentioned or discussed. These are just a few of the most common myths that surround the idea of organ donation, but with the proper knowledge, people can overcome their fears and make the lifesaving decision to be an organ donor.  

Lots of people are positively affected by organ donation. The deceased donor, the donor’s family, the recipients, and the families of the recipients can all benefit and take comfort during such a critical time. Organ donation not only helps the critically ill patients, but also the worried families. These families have been through hard times waiting months, even years, for a lifesaving transplant that will allow their loved ones to return to living a healthy life. From finding out that their relative was ill, to having them put on the organ transplant list, to anxiously waiting to hear if there is an available organ for transplant, families of patients face many difficult challenges. When there is a healthy organ donated by a generous person, it is a major relief to not only the person in need of it, but also the families who have waited sleeplessly for that miraculous day to come. The day that will save their loved one’s life. As for the mourning families of a deceased organ donor, an article by Live on NY mentions that, “Many grieving families of organ donors can take comfort in the fact that their loss may help to save or improve the lives of others” (“About Organ Donation”). It is comforting to know that even after the death of a loved one, up to eight lives can be saved through something as simple as a donation of an organ such as a kidney, intestines, liver, pancreas, lungs, or heart. Another forty-two lives can be greatly enhanced if tissues such as skin, corneas, blood vessels, heart valves, tendons, bones, etc. are donated. During a TedTalks video, a transplant surgeon at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Christopher Barry, MD, PhD, discussed how families are impacted by organ donation. He mentioned that, “Donor families can experience and profound sense of comfort and closure that tragedy and loss resulted in the renewal of life in many others” (Barry). Even when a loved one passes away, a part of their physical being can live on in someone else. Having everyone be an organ donor would help not only the patients who are coming closer to death every day, but also their families who are struggling, as well the donor’s families who know that their loved one is saving many lives even after death. The donor can also take comfort in the idea that after they are gone, their body does not go to waste, but instead can be used to save the lives of many others. So by choosing to be an organ donor, many lives are changed forever, in the best way possible. This is another reason why everyone should choose to be an organ donor.

Organ donation has become a very controversial topic. Because of this, people become uncomfortable or try to avoid the subject all together. Due to this, the public is not well informed and, therefore, less people are choosing to be donors. There are ways to change this and promote awareness. If organ donation continues to be more openly discussed, it will no longer be so controversial and uncomfortable to talk about. Change can even happen within the hospital in order to increase the number of donors. Because organ donation is a very sensitive topic, many healthcare professionals struggle with properly initiating the conversation about organ donation with the families of the deceased. Due to this, the family’s decision for whether or not they want to donate their loved one’s organs can be greatly influenced. If a person wanted to be a donor, but did not register, the family would be asked to make decisions about organ donation after death (“Donation Frequently Asked Questions”). In order to avoid difficult decisions for family members, people should choose to be an organ donor. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals should practice the correct way to discuss this subject with the emotional family members in order to receive consent for donation. Physicians need to use effective communication skills when approaching the families of the deceased regarding end of life decisions in order to maximize consent rates. However, most physicians and healthcare professionals are poorly prepared to handle reactions of grief expressed by the families and, therefore, miss opportunities to provide emotional support and valuable information about the benefits of organ donation. Because of this, families do not have the information they need to make a well-informed decision regarding their loved one’s organs and might refuse donation. Studies have shown that in North America, families who declined organ donation later regretted their decision and wished that they had agreed. Decisional regret was more likely when healthcare professionals did not correctly initiate the subject of organ donation. These regrets can be reduced if doctors and health professionals learn how to effectively broach the topic. There are donor awareness programs that are designed to increase the healthcare professional’s understanding of organ donation and provide skills to sensitively conduct conversation with the mourning families. According to a journal published discussing proper organ donation protocol in hospitals, “Families who were certain of their organ donation decision reported that health professionals providing clear information and emotional support were key factors in helping them make decisions that they were comfortable with” (Potter). With proper explanation and facts given, doctors can convince the family members to agree to donation of the deceased’s organs, as well as make them consider becoming and organ donor if they are not already one. In order to raise more awareness about being an organ donor, doctors and others who work in the healthcare field can speak to the public and provide important information regarding donation through public education campaigns or college lectures, for example. With more knowledge learned and more exposure to the topic, the number of organ donors would increase drastically, and so would the number of lives saved.  

There are more people in need of organs than there are people willing to donate. There are currently more than 114,000 people in the United States, and millions more around the world, who are waiting for a lifesaving transplant, such as a kidney, liver, or heart transplant. About 3,000 people are added to the national organ transplant waiting list every month. Kimball Johnson, a certified diplomate of the American Board of Medicine, states that, “More than 6,5000 people a year, about 18 a day, die before that organ ever becomes available. Organ donors are always in short supply” (Johnson). This problem can be solved if more people choose to be an organ donor. There would be no issues with patients dying due to not receiving a lifesaving organ transplant. This is why everyone should make the wise and respected choice to be an organ donor. The shortage of organs could drastically decrease with this lifesaving solution and there would no longer be less donors than people in need of donations. There is also a more drastic way to ensure more organ donors: an opt-out system. The United States currently runs on an opt-in system with regards to being an organ donor. This means that if a person wants to be an organ donor, they have to specifically choose to become one, otherwise it is assumed that their organs will remain intact after death and will not be allowed for donation. With this system, only one-third of the United States’ population consents to organ donation. Due to such a small amount of donors, the number of organs donated has not kept pace with the number of organs needed for transplantation. The demand for organs is increasing exponentially due to the fact that life expectancy has gone up, more people suffer from obesity or diabetes, and alcohol-related liver failure has become more prevalent. There are several reasons for why the United states has such a low donation rate. One of the reasons is that people simply do not want to take the time to register to be an organ donor. The opt-in system can make this decision stressful and time consuming. Due to this, there are more people willing to donate than there are registered. It was found through surveys that over eighty-five percent of Americans would have chosen be an organ donor (Ahmad). Another reason is that there are limited programs that educate the population about organ donation. Therefore, the public lacks basic knowledge and understanding concerning organ donation. This can be improved through educational and awareness programs in order to increase the number of donors. Many European countries, such as Spain, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, and Portugal operate on an opt-out system for organ donation. This is the opposite of an opt-in system, so the citizens of these countries are all organ donors unless they specifically choose not to be. Consent rates in an opt-out system are over eighty-five percent, which is a significant difference from the opposite system. Spain is currently leading in organ transplants due to its citizens’ comprehensive knowledge about organ donation. Spain follows a “soft” version of the opt-out system where the families’ wishes are considered by the doctors. Unlike Spain, Austria has a “hard” version and does not need consent from the families in order to harvest organs. The opt-out system does not create stress and is not time consuming because organ donation is already assumed, therefore more people are organ donors. Some of these people do not want to be an organ donor, but did not specifically choose to not be. This is a result of what psychologists have named the “Default Effect.” This can cause problems because non-willing donors can have their organs harvested because they did not make the effort to explicitly opt-out. There are some major advantages, as well as disadvantages for both systems. However, according to Christopher Barry, it is unlikely that the United States will adopt the opt-out system because Americans do not like to be told what to do by the government and personal liberty is more highly valued than benefitting the public good (Barry). As a result, increased organ donor rates will have to continue to rely on spreading awareness and providing more information. Being an organ donor not only give a person the chance to be generous, but also the ability to save a human’s life. Therefore, everyone should choose to become an organ donor.

There are several effective approaches when attempting to promote organ donation. The most common is altruism, which is the quality of unselfish concern for the well-being of others. This is often invoked as a moral appeal to influence people’s behavior in regards to organ donation. This is reflected in the word “donation” and also when organ donation is described as being “the gift of life” (Guttmann). Organ donation is an act of pure giving and selflessness. Altruism is found in advertisements that are aimed to encourage people to register as an organ donor and families to donate organs of the deceased. With this appeal, the idea of helping others is used as the central persuasive approach. Even though altruism has been effective in promoting organ donation, it has been disputed there are alternative prosocial appeals that could have more of an impact. Solidarity and reciprocity have the potential to promote organ donation better than altruism because they concern social values more. Solidarity involves a unity of shared feelings or interests among members of a group, while reciprocity relies on mutual exchange in return for mutual benefit. These appeals could possibly be seen as a stronger motivation than altruism because they involve society as a whole and encourages the establishment of a positive social norm. With the use of these appeals for promoting organ donation, more people would be inclined to make the decision to become an organ donor. 

Thousands of lives can be saved by organ donation. If everyone was an organ donor, the number of unnecessary deaths would drastically decrease and the shortage of organs for transplant would become less of a concern. These needless losses of life can be saved by a solution as simple as choosing to be an organ donor. One person can save up to eight more lives through donation. By not consenting to be an organ donor after death, many lives are taken to the grave. The most rewarding feeling is knowing that providing the gift of life can positively affect a countless number of people. Everyone should be an organ donor because there is a desperate need for organs, organ donation benefits many people, and it has the power to save numerous lives.
