ShareThisThe human heart is the universal symbol of life and affection. It beats to sustain our lives. In turn, we give our hearts to one another to prove our love.Catholics are fond of depicting Jesus' Sacred Heart to illustrate what he said of himself: "Greater love than this no man has: that he gives his life for his friends." Christians believe that he died so that all might live.Before we discount this as pious sentiment, consider the medical fact that it is now possible to offer one's heart to prolong another person's life. A heart that is no longer beating can be removed, kept alive in a cold solution, and transplanted within four hours. But for want of donors only slightly more than 2,000 heart transplants are performed each year.Close to 100,000 Americans are currently on the U.S. organ transplant waiting list for hearts, kidneys, livers, pancreases, intestines, bone marrow, eyes, skin, and lungs. Sixteen people die every day because transplants aren't available. Some 56 percent of donors are already deceased, while 44 percent are still living.Organs taken from a single deceased donor can save the lives or improve the health of as many as 50 people.There is no cost to donors or their families to designate themselves as organ donors. In my state (Virginia) drivers licenses clearly indicate the choice to be a donor, but it's important to let one's family members know that wish so they can reassure the hospital.Organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of most larger religious denominations, including Catholics, Protestants, and most branches of Judaism. Parents can consent for a child under the age of 18 to be a donor.Lamentably, there are myths that can discourage organ donation, including the fear that the donor may still be alive and only unconscious. All donors must be declared brain dead by physicians and screened against the presence of harmful viruses. Organ donation does not prevent an open-casket funeral. Nor does old age render the deceased's organs insufficiently healthy for transplant. Even if one's eyesight is poor, an eye transplant can save the recipient from total blindness.Polls confirm that the vast majority of Americans would be willing to be organ donors, but do not register their wishes. In some cases family members actually override the deceased's wishes, because they conceive of organ donation as somehow prolonging his or her suffering.Today half of European nations simply presume their citizens' willingness to donate at death unless they clearly specify otherwise. Britain and the United States are currently considering whether to follow suit. The Washington Post recently editorialized that an even more effective strategy for increasing organ donations may be to invest in 24-hour retrieval teams in our hospitals and better training for doctors who talk to bereaved families about their options.(David Yount's latest book is "Growing in Faith: A Guide for the Reluctant Christian" (Seabury). He answers readers at P.O. Box 2758, Woodbridge, VA 22195 and dyount(at)erols.com)
Donate an organ
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
Organs should go first to registered organ donors
Over half of the 98,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable organs every year. Over 6,000 of our neighbors suffer and die needlessly every year as a result.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- give organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.