Lawmaker Wants
Organs of Death Row Inmates to Be Donated
The Associated Press
Mar 26, 2000 - 09:03 PM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A state lawmaker
has introduced legislation that would allow organs from
death row inmates to be used for transplants.
Rep. William Andrew, R-Delray Beach,
said now that Florida has switched from the electric
chair to lethal injection as the primary method of
execution, death row inmates could yield lifesaving
organs.
"A doctor in my district said,
'Why don't you look into it and make something positive
out of executions,'" Andrews said. "And I
thought, why not? If you can save some body parts to
extend someone's life, you ought to do it."
About 2,190 people are awaiting organ
transplants in Florida, according to the United Network
for Organ Sharing, an agency that oversees the matching
of donors and transplant recipients. In 1998, the most
recent year for which data is available, 171 people in
Florida died awaiting a transplant.
Meanwhile, 368 inmates await execution
on death row. If donated, those inmates' vital organs -
the heart, liver pancreas, lungs and kidneys - could
extend the lives of more than 2,500 people.
But all five of Florida's organ
procurement organizations are on record opposing
Andrews' legislation (HB 999).
John R. "Jay" Campbell, the
in-house general counsel for LifeLink, a Tampa organ
procurement firm, said there are a number of scientific
concerns about using organ transplants from death row
inmates. Among them, the fact that prisoners are a
high-risk group, particularly for hepatitis and AIDS.
But the United Network for Organ
Sharing has raised concerns that taking organs from
death row inmates would turn medical teams into
executioners and potentially leave the public with the
impression that prisoners are being killed for their
organs.
Les Olson, director of the Organ
Procurement Organization at the University of Miami,
said he opposes HB 999, but believes the transplant
community should keep an open mind about organ
procurement inside prison walls.
"We have patients dying all the
time," Olson said. "We cannot afford not to
look into all the possibilities."
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