As an Orthodox physician working at a major New York City hospital, I am distressed to read the Rabbinical Council of America position on organ donations as you reported (“RCA Backs Off Stand On Brain Death For Transplants,” Dec. 3).
If indeed, according to the RCA [the majority of decisors say that] one may not harvest an organ from a patient who has been found to be brain-stem dead, because according to halacha, the donor may still be alive, then surely one may not accept an organ under the same circumstances because, again according to halacha, the donor would have to be murdered to make that organ available. To hold that one may not donate an organ, which may save a life, but one can accept an organ under the same circumstances is immoral, unethical and unacceptable
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