Christian Moral Ethics on Organ Transplants

Christian Moral Ethics on Organ Transplants

The issues concerning organ donation and transplantation appear simple and decisive, but actually they are overwhelmingly complex. This complexity begins with the need to differentiate between replaceable tissues, such as blood or bone marrow, and solid organs such as heart and lungs that require the death of the donor. Organs and tissues may be retrieved from living or dead donors, or even animals, as in cases of transplanted heart valves from pigs. Debates rage concerning the criteria for determining death and therefore eligibility for donating. [1]

Other questions and areas of controversy involve who should give consent, how to fairly allocate organs and who should pay the tremendous costs involved in transplantation and maintenance. Although organ donation and transplantation raise numerous issues, I want to address the biblical principles relevant to determining the permissibility, obligation or prohibition of transplanting organs or tissues from one human being to another.

The statistics show that the supply of organs and tissues is not meeting the current demand. However, few objections to organ donation and transplantation are made on religious or biblical grounds. Even when a group opposes donation on religious grounds, most will extend their belief systems to allow for donation and receiving of replaceable organs and tissues, such as blood and bone marrow. Most arguments for and against organ donation and transplantation fall into two major categories: those dealing with expressed love to one's neighbor and those dealing with treatment of the body.

In his book Christian Ethics in Health Care, John Wilkinson writes that the first ethical principle on which organ donation and transplantation may be justified is that of "love for one's neighbor." This principle is also cited by Richard Hughes, a tissue recipient himself, when he describes the tangible act of loving one's neighbor. [2]

Although the command to "love your neighbor" was quoted by Jesus (Matthew 5:43), Paul (Romans 13:9) and James (James 2:8), it may be traced back to Leviticus 19:18. This passage justifies its use in the ethics of organ donation and transplantation. The Hebrew word translated love in Leviticus is used in the Old Testament to describe the love one should have for a neighbor, as well as the love one should express toward God (Deut 6:5) and strangers (Deuteronomy 10:19). In examining the meaning of the Hebrew word translated love (ahab), Eugene Merrill says it refers to a covenant love connoting emotion and sensual love, and also a Spirit-led tendency toward obedience to the commands of God.

People are to express this love toward God and one another because of who God is, and because we are created in his image. Jesus extends the scope of who may be one's neighbor in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and in Matthew 5:43-44. The overarching principle is that we are obligated as Christians to love everyone. Jesus' life and words exhort all people to love brother, sister, neighbor, enemy and stranger. One way to express this love is through ...