Belgium Allows Doctors to “Presume” a Patient is Dead to Harvest His Organs

lifenews.com

A just published article in the Journal of Medical Ethics argues for allowing killing by organ removal as a form of euthanasia and organ donation. More, over at The Corner.

The authors mention that Belgium has “presumed consent” for organ donation. From the piece:

When a patient is determined dead on the basis of either circulatory or neurological criteria, the treating physician is legally allowed to remove his organs for transplantation.

In case of donation, three non-treating physicians, who are not involved in the transplantation procedure, should independently determine death.

The law explicitly states that relatives should be enabled to say farewell to the deceased as soon as possible after the donation procedure

In the immoral utilitarian milieu that now reigns in Belgium, this means that that doctors could look upon all “suffering” patients as potential organ suppliers.

That could easily influence how they discuss treatment options, and lead to subtle persuasion for euthanasia–without discussing the organ issue.