Someone who does not want to donate his organs seems like an egoist. At least if you read the forums on this subject. But organ donation is not obvious for everyone. Organ donation is not self-evident, especially for Buddhists, Hindus and others who believe in reincarnation. In this article whether Hindus and Jehovah’s Witnesses may donate their organs. And the other side: there are also people who do not want to give away their organs, but are willing to sell them for a lot of money.
Hindus and organ donation
Donating organs is an issue for Hindus. Hindus believe that they have received their body in its entirety from God and must then hand it back to Him after death. In addition, within Hinduism karma and rebirth (or the cause and effect) are very important. Hindus believe that the soul is eternal and therefore immortal. Karma is a sum of the things that people build up in their different lives. Donating organs would disrupt that process and would change both the karma of the person donating their organs and that of the person receiving the organs.
Kindness and a helping hand
On the other hand, Hindu scriptures also show that showing kindness and offering a helping hand to those who are suffering is of great importance. Although suffering is a fair effect, Hindus must still try to make diseases and difficult things in life disappear for their fellow human beings. Compassion, charity and donations from the body are the practical aspects of Hinduism. From that perspective, according to certain Hindu scholars, there are no objections for Hindus to become organ donors.
A Hindu must decide for himself whether or not he wants to become an organ donor after his death
According to certain scholars, whether or not a Hindu wants to become an organ donor should simply be left to themselves. However, there are references in Hindu scriptures that support organ donation according to Hindu beliefs. In the list of ten Nijkamps (or positive actions) in Hindu scriptures, Daan (or giving shells) is the third positive action. One of the Vedas of Hinduism, the Sushruta, views organ and limb transplants positively.
Organ donation by Jehovah’s Witnesses: as long as donor blood is not involved
According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Bible is not clear about organ transplantation, possibly because it was not yet possible at the time the Bible was written. Jehovas Witnesses can therefore decide for themselves whether they are for or against organ donation. However, the condition is always that no (donor) blood is used during the operation.
Paying for organs during organ donation
If you browse the internet, you will also find people who believe that money should be paid for their organs. This is already happening on a large scale abroad. In poor countries like India, people receive almost no money for their organs, while the aftercare is often poor. In the richer countries there is a lot of money to be made from this. Yet there also seems to be a large market in the Netherlands. On www.wordorgaandonor.nl/plein/forum, for example, a large number of organs are offered for money. The arguments are diverse. For example, people state that they will only make their organs available if they are compensated at the market price, because a lot of money is made from the trade in organs. They believe that their relatives will still gain something from the loss and from the fact that their loved one is giving away part of them. The site also offers organs that can now be purchased directly, such as a kidney or part of a liver. If a person has two healthy kidneys, he or she can continue to live on one. A human liver grows back and that means that part can be donated and the other part simply remains in the donor’s body.
Offering an organization to pay off debts
Some people honestly say that they have to pay off their debts and therefore want to donate part of their body. Others simply want between 6,000 and 100,000 euros because they are donating a healthy part of their body. Others say that this amount is needed for the operation and they do not want to make a profit.
Kidney transplantation in Bulgaria
The site also mentions that people in Bulgaria have undergone a transplant. That is not cheap either, because for a kidney transplant, for example, a certain case in that country also had to pay 80,000 euros.
Selling organs is a punishable offense
By the way, you are not allowed to sell your organs in the Netherlands, it is even punishable. That is why many people on this forum say that they want to be paid in cash for the amount they ask for their organs. Of course, this also means that the tax authorities cannot see anything and will not affect the surviving relatives or the person themselves. There are many questions on the site about how the operation should be arranged. Normally, someone is put on a list who needs an organ and the person who most urgently needs an organ and for whom there is a match (blood group must match, among other things) then receives that organ. Anyone who acts outside that circuit does it in a different way and that falls outside the legal framework. However, family members are allowed to donate an organ to their loved one and this is also handled normally in a hospital.