Healthy willing prisoners are denied the opportunity to be organ donors by prison administration.
With nearly 2 million inmates nationwide, and such a drastic need for organs, it only makes sense to try and expand the potential pool of donors by allowing healthy, willing prisoners to donate. Prisoners in every state have voiced their wish to donate a kidney or bone marrow now. Others have wish to become donors upon their death.
Many states have attempted to pass legislation that would make this enticing for inmates by offering incentives such as sentence reductions. But these efforts have failed due to concerns of coercion, consent, and unlawful financial consideration.
Other states have implemented policies that allow for organ donation only to family members of the incarcerated. But most prisons unnecessarily disallow willful donations by inmates to others in need (review reasons for this below). One noted exception is Maricopa County in Arizona who recently began a campaign to sign up willing inmates as organ donors - to date over 10,000 inmates have signed up in that one county alone.
The goal of G.A.V.E. is to move prisons nationwide to implement such changes that give any willing, capable inmate the opportunity to save a life. It is the view of G.A.V.E. that not only will this assist in the supply of organs, but this will also create opportunities for prisoners to give back to the community they violated. This is an opportunity that can help in the rehabilitative process of the inmate and one that can potentially cultivate a generosity of spirit that can do much to cure some of the nation’s recidivism problems.
When we’re dealing with the lives of those who will die today because we have not utilized all viable alternatives, it is important that we rationally consider this option now. With the amount of inmates already willing to donate, such efforts could have a dramatic impact.
The most often stated concerns:
"Prisoners are at high risk for infectious diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis. Testing is not 100%."
- While prison is a high-risk environment, prisoners actually live with less risk than many U.S. populations. Cities such as New York City, Washington DC and Miami have a much higher prevalence for infectious diseases than prisons per capita, yet the transplant community seeks to increase donations from these areas.
Testing for infectious diseases is not 100% accurate, but it is greater than 98%. Redundant testing for antibodies and the virus itself virtually guarantees the inmate is not a disease carrier prior to execution.
> High risk? - A comparison of prison inmates vs society.
> Chart - HIV/AIDS infections of prisoners vs other high-risk populations. "Current lethal injection protocols don't allow for viable organ donations."
- False. States have begun adopting a new one-drug protocol which preserves organ viability.
> One-drug Protocol - The necessity for states to adopt.
"Prisoners are a vulnerable class of people who's voluntary consent to donate organs cannot truly be obtained."
- False. These concerns relate back to the 1950's - 1970's when prisoners
"consented" to harsh experiments after being paid inducements to do so. Courts have repeatedly ruled that prisoners have the right and capacity to consent to or refuse medical treatment - even at the risk of death.
If an inmate initiates a request to donate and is offered no incentive to do so, and if the inmate is provided with the same counseling and rights to rescind as every prospective donor is, then there is no reason why the inmate cannot give appropriate consent to donate.
> Prisoner Consent? - Can inmates give appropriate consent to donate?
"Prisoners won't volunteer."
- False. Inmates frequently request to donate now, but are refused by prison administration. For an example of inmates willingness to donate see Maricopa County's "I Do" Program. More than 9700 inmates have signed up to be donors in that one county alone.
WANTED! Healthy inmates who want to save a life by donating an organ.
Do you know of an inmate who would like to be an organ donor?
With nearly 2 million inmates nationwide, and such a drastic need for organs, it only makes sense to try and expand the potential pool of donors by allowing healthy, willing prisoners to donate. Prisoners in every state have voiced their wish to donate a kidney or bone marrow now. Others have wish to become donors upon their death.
Many states have attempted to pass legislation that would make this enticing for inmates by offering incentives such as sentence reductions. But these efforts have failed due to concerns of coercion, consent, and unlawful financial consideration.
Other states have implemented policies that allow for organ donation only to family members of the incarcerated. But most prisons unnecessarily disallow willful donations by inmates to others in need (review reasons for this below). One noted exception is Maricopa County in Arizona who recently began a campaign to sign up willing inmates as organ donors - to date over 10,000 inmates have signed up in that one county alone.
The goal of G.A.V.E. is to move prisons nationwide to implement such changes that give any willing, capable inmate the opportunity to save a life. It is the view of G.A.V.E. that not only will this assist in the supply of organs, but this will also create opportunities for prisoners to give back to the community they violated. This is an opportunity that can help in the rehabilitative process of the inmate and one that can potentially cultivate a generosity of spirit that can do much to cure some of the nation’s recidivism problems.
When we’re dealing with the lives of those who will die today because we have not utilized all viable alternatives, it is important that we rationally consider this option now. With the amount of inmates already willing to donate, such efforts could have a dramatic impact.
The most often stated concerns:
"Prisoners are at high risk for infectious diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis. Testing is not 100%."
- While prison is a high-risk environment, prisoners actually live with less risk than many U.S. populations. Cities such as New York City, Washington DC and Miami have a much higher prevalence for infectious diseases than prisons per capita, yet the transplant community seeks to increase donations from these areas.
Testing for infectious diseases is not 100% accurate, but it is greater than 98%. Redundant testing for antibodies and the virus itself virtually guarantees the inmate is not a disease carrier prior to execution.
> High risk? - A comparison of prison inmates vs society.
> Chart - HIV/AIDS infections of prisoners vs other high-risk populations. "Current lethal injection protocols don't allow for viable organ donations."
- False. States have begun adopting a new one-drug protocol which preserves organ viability.
> One-drug Protocol - The necessity for states to adopt.
"Prisoners are a vulnerable class of people who's voluntary consent to donate organs cannot truly be obtained."
- False. These concerns relate back to the 1950's - 1970's when prisoners
"consented" to harsh experiments after being paid inducements to do so. Courts have repeatedly ruled that prisoners have the right and capacity to consent to or refuse medical treatment - even at the risk of death.
If an inmate initiates a request to donate and is offered no incentive to do so, and if the inmate is provided with the same counseling and rights to rescind as every prospective donor is, then there is no reason why the inmate cannot give appropriate consent to donate.
> Prisoner Consent? - Can inmates give appropriate consent to donate?
"Prisoners won't volunteer."
- False. Inmates frequently request to donate now, but are refused by prison administration. For an example of inmates willingness to donate see Maricopa County's "I Do" Program. More than 9700 inmates have signed up to be donors in that one county alone.
WANTED! Healthy inmates who want to save a life by donating an organ.
Do you know of an inmate who would like to be an organ donor?
- G.A.V.E. is setting up an informal inmate donor registry to continue to gauge just how many willing inmate donors are out there.
- Email inmate's name, prison ID number, state, and release date to us, or encourage inmates to directly communicate their interest to our address below.
- We will research your prison's guidelines and inform you of actual possibilities of becoming a donor.
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