Gemma Chaloner wote .....

> Hi everyone next week i have to give a talk at school on organ donation. I
> present it as an argument with arguments for and arguments against. I was
> wondering if any1 could give me some reasons for it and also against it. I
> seem to have found lots for but hardly any against. I was wondering if you
> could tell me the religions whihc are against it. Is is the johavhs
> witnesses

Well first good luck for your talk.

Please do not take my word for Gospel (no pun intended, and if anyone
thinks/knows I am wrong please correct me) but as far as I am aware
Jehovah's Witnesses are against transplantation. This is not in principle
but because they believe that they cannot accept any blood that has been
outside the body so organs would have to be completly bloodless which is in
practice not possible.

Also as far as I know Jehovah's Witnesses are the only Christian
denominaation/sect that is against transplantation. As for other religions I
really don't know.

On to arguments against transplantation. First of all there are all the
objections that are based on religious/spiritual/superstitious grounds, for
example, that the bodies of the dead should be left in peace and not
desecrated or that transplantation is 'unatural' or against God's will. Then
there are arguments of a more secular nature, foremost (I think) is the
argument that if transplantation is allowed then organs become comodities
and the dying become potential supplies of such comodities and therefor they
are treated as such rather than a person with a right to life and doctors
should not perform any proceedure that is not to the benefit of the dying
patient. Also the possibility of transplantation creates a pressure on
persons to donate their organs after death despite the fact that they might
have objections to that.

I hope that I have helped.

Please note that in the above I was not expressing any judgments or
opinions, just citing what arguments I could think of regardless of whether
they were mainstream or fringe religious arguments or justifed or not
secular arguments.

Fred