Like many people, I check the organ donor option on my driver's license applications because I'll obviously have no further use for them, and I like the idea of being able to help someone else. I also must confess that, God forbid, I ever need an organ replacement, I hope that one would be available.

But recently I started coming across horrific stories of organs being "harvested," (I hate that word being used in this context) from still-living patients. There are documented cases emerging from federal probes and whistleblower testimonies of patients declared brain-dead awakening on operating tables as surgeons cut into them. We (conservatives) cherish the unborn, the elderly, and the vulnerable, how can we allow the near-dead to be commodified?

In 1968 an ad hoc committee out of Harvard coined the term "brain death." This became a convenient loophole, an ambiguity that has birthed nightmares. A New York Times investigation uncovered scores of cases where patients exhibited undeniable signs of life during harvesting -- crying, biting tubes, mouthing "help me," or simply breathing. In one Alabama incident, surgeons paused mid-procedure upon discovering a beating heart. In Kentucky, whistleblowers at the Organ Donor Affiliates described "inhumane" rushes to declare donors non-viable, leading to what one called "euthanasia."

Federal investigators found nearly 30% of "authorized but not recovered" donors showed consciousness, with procurement coordinators pressuring surgeons to proceed despite the evidence. These reports came from 19 states, drawn from 55 medical workers' accounts. Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) -- government-sanctioned monopolies -- dominate the system and are incentivized by transplant quotas that reward volume over ethics. Congress revealed that 80% of eligible organs go uncollected due to dysfunction. Whistleblowers face retaliation, like the Kentucky nurse who was fired after alerting lawmakers.

COVID made things worse. Unvaccinated patients were denied transplants, and mRNA shots were linked to graft failures in kidneys and hearts. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has called this a "horrifying" systemic disregard for life's sanctity and vowed accountability for OPOs and hospitals that initiate procurement while vital signs persist.

This situation shows the perils of unchecked bureaucracy and market distortions. When federal policies under past administrations tied funding to transplant numbers, ethics collapsed, creating a black-market echo chamber that values quotas over souls.

Worse, success rates belie the miracle narrative. Half of kidney and heart grafts fail within a decade. Recipients can be doomed to lifelong toxic immune-suppressants that cost $10,000-$30,000 annually, with side effects like cancer. Anecdotal evidence even hints at recipients inheriting donors' memories and phobias, raising additional ethical and spiritual implications.

Enough.

Common-sense reforms can reclaim this system without abandoning the vulnerable. First, reinstate ironclad death criteria. Mandate two independent physicians' confirmations of irreversible death, with EEGs and apnea tests, barring procurement until absolute verification. Criminalize violations as manslaughter, with mandatory reporting to shielded whistleblowers via federal hotlines, and protections akin to those for aviation safety. Trump-era rules allow decertification of under-performing OPOs by 2026, which will foster the prioritization of ethics over tallies.

Second, empower families by requiring explicit, witnessed opt-in consent, with cooling-off periods and full disclosure of risks. Educate via driver’s license renewals and Public Service Announcements. Frame donation as noble but voluntary, not presumed.

Finally, infuse moral oversight. Convene a bipartisan commission of ethicists, clergy, and physicians to audit OPOs annually, ensuring transparency in a profit-driven arena. Conservatives know that government excels at enforcement, not innovation. Let it guard the gates of life, not grease the skids of exploitation. Yes, the organ trade saves lives, but at what cost to our humanity?

We must honor the pro-life ethos that defines us -- protect the weak, punish the corrupt, and pursue healing that exalts, not erodes, the divine spark. Our hospitals must heal, not harvest.

Every donor deserves sanctity. We are made in God's image, after all.

Image: Picryl