Permanent or Irreversible: What Difference Does It Make?

Blog / /

D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director A number of years ago, I was out of town when we had significant flooding at home. There was some leaking of water into the basement, and one of our then-teenage sons decided to make sure I would be aware of where exactly the leaks had appeared. He used a hot pink permanent marker to delineate the problem on the drywall for me. When my husband arrived home at the end of a full day, he became rather “excited” about our son’s decision. Thankfully, an older son found a solution to ...read more

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Subsidizing Desire

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D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

Philosophy Professor Timothy F. Murphy and medical student Kelsey Mumford recently published in the AMA Journal of Ethics a paper on the possibility of subsidizing uterine transplantation — for transwomen (biological males) and transmen (biological females).

The authors posit that government subsidy for expensive uterine transplants could apply to a number of persons identifying as

Transwomen “who want to gestate their own children” Transwomen who don’t want to gestate children but want a uterus “to consolidate their identities” Transmen “who want to gestate their own children” Males (“cisgender men”) who want to “gestate children of their own”

The authors raise the ...read more

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Guinea Pigs

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Joyce A. Shelton, Ph.D. Professor of Biology Emerita Trinity International University

Successful xenotransplantation, animal donor to human recipient organ transfer, is the holy grail for medical doctors and scientists who study organ transplant. Why? Approximately 107,000 people are awaiting organ transplant in the US. Most will wait up to 2 to 3 years. About 17 people die per day because there are not enough organs available to meet the demand (1). Animal organs that have been genetically engineered to remove tissue molecules that cause transplant rejection would go a long way toward relieving the organ shortage.

A recently proclaimed major transplantation breakthrough attracted widespread ...read more

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When Can Others Help Themselves to Our Organs?

Blog, End of Life / /

D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

We have an opt-in organ donation system in the United States. That is, you have to say, “Yes,” to organ donation in order to donate. Opting in is very easy, and you can usually do that through your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Even those too young to vote can opt-in for organ donation. Why is this service available through the DMV? A few moments’ thought can yield an answer.

England has recently changed its law governing organ donation. The new “opt-out” law takes effect in 2020:

Everyone in England over the age of 18 will ...read more

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Let’s Talk About Organ Donation

Blog / /

D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.

Executive Director

A rare feat in organ transplantation was reported this week.  27-year-old Ray Fearing needed a kidney.  His younger sister, Cera, donated one of hers.  Quickly, though, that kidney started failing.  Although Fearing could no longer use the kidney, his physicians thought that perhaps the kidney could be removed before it shut down altogether, and transplanted to someone else. Fearing and his sister agreed to the procedure, as did the recipient.  So, after 14 days in Ray Fearing’s body, the kidney was removed and re-transplanted — this time, into the ...read more

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