A Perspective of Moral Theology on the Problem of Tissue Donation and Organ Transplantation
Authors: Olejnik Stanisław 
Published: February 2021

e main objective of the present article was to show what is the crux of themoral problem of transplanting human organs and how it should be resolvedfrom the point of view of Christian morality. e issue posed by contemporarymedicine reveals several aspects, therefore it cannot be resolved too hastily. eformulation of the general position on the fairness of transplantation requiredconsideration of several specific issues implied by the general view of the phenomenonunder discussion. Considering the situation of the donor, from whomthe organ to be transplanted to someone else is taken, leads to the conclusionthat retrieving the organ from the body of a deceased person cannot be regardedas impious or immoral.Similarly donation of one’s organ, whose transplantation is not necessaryto maintain someone else’s life, should also be considered as morally correct.In the case of the donation of an organ necessary for maintaining the life of thedonor, one should regard the act as morally condemnable, mainly because of thecooperation of the recipient with doctors, which aims at inflicting death onan innocent person. In certain specific situations, the donation of one healthyorgans (from a pair), which is necessary to maintain the life of another personmay turn out to be an obligation dictated by family love or the love of the fatherland.e greatest number of reservations and difficulties in the field of organtransplantation concern the issue of the recognition of death, especiallyin connection with the successes of resuscitation. One should bear in mindthe ambiguity of death criteria in the ongoing discussions, from tests of deathin a biological sense, through clinical death, ending with the recognition of thedeath of the brain. Despite the existing discrepancies in opinions, it is possibleto declare the death of someone with full responsibility at a time when thereis still the possibility of harvesting an organ from that person and transferringit to someone else. A judgement of this type is not and cannot be issued withabsolute certainty.For the goals set in a given situation, it is completely sufficient and canfully justify undertaking transplantation activities. Conscientious considerationof the discussed case allowed the author of present article to concludethat the possible admission of the possibility of death in a given case cannot beidentified with the deliberate act of taking someone’s life. e final conclusionof this key part of the investigation turned out to favor organ transplantationin the sense that it does not have to involve the accelerating the death of thedonor. Practical difficulties with regard to organ transplantation, connectedin particular with the need to establish specific preferences as to the selection of organ recipients on both a macro and micro ethical scale, are not sufficientarguments which could make us firmly reject their implementation. ey canbe, however, overcome under certain conditions. ey are not, in any case,a decisive argument in favor of rejection of organ transplants in general. Also,possible abuses cannot be regarded as such an argument. It must be admittedthat their occurrence is possible, and may pose a serious threat in this regard.Nevertheless, cases of abuse can accompany and indeed they do accompanyall human activities, even the most noble in moral terms. In the face of thepossibility of abuse, in the discussed area of medical activities, associated witha special kind of risk, it is necessary to appeal to doctors that they should maintaina great sense of responsibility and a noble moral attitude.