What various religions say about donating body parts

By Makeba Scott Hunter

Herald News

August 11, 2005

The one thing that's clear and constant about organ donation is that there are not nearly enough healthy organs to go around.

While nearly 90,000 people in the United States are awaiting a life-saving organ transplant, as of the end of July, only 4,700 people had donated organs, according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the national waiting list.

With the demand for donors so greatly outweighing the supply, thousands of patients each year, inevitably, die waiting to live.

Last year alone, 6,444 people in the United States, including 185 in New Jersey, died while on the list. The situation is "critical," said UNOS spokeswoman Annie Moore.

One of the toughest challenges facing those who work to secure organ donations is overcoming the objections, fears and misconceptions that people have about donation, said Myra Burks-Davis, spokesperson for New Jersey Organ & Tissue Sharing Network.

Of the myriad objections her organization tackles, "My religion doesn't support it" is the most common, Burks-Davis said. "But most religions do," she added. "There's been a lot of research in the organ donation community about what world religions are feeling about donation."

To set the record straight, the list below is an inventory of some major religions and their positions. While those with religious objections or concerns should contact their religious leader for specific advice, this list, provided by the New York Organ Donor Network, is a basic guideline that can be used to see what, if any, objections a particular religion has.

For information or to find out about religions not included in this list, go to: http://www.nyodn.org/audience/au_religious.html.

AME (African Methodist Episcopal) and AME Zion (African Methodist Episcopal Zion): Organ and tissue donation is viewed as an act of neighborly love and charity by these denominations. They encourage donation as a way of helping others.

Amish: The Amish will consent to transplantation if it is believed to further the well-being of the transplant recipient.

Assembly of God: The church has no official policy on organ and tissue donation but the denomination has been highly supportive of donation in the past. The decision to donate is left to each individual.

Bahaism: Transplants are acceptable if prescribed by medical authorities. Members are permitted to donate their bodies for research and for restorative purposes.

Baptist: Donation is supported as an act of charity. The church leaves the decision to donate up to the individual.

Buddhism: Organ and tissue donation is a matter of individual conscience. The importance of letting loved ones know final wishes is stressed because many families will not give permission to donate unless they know their loved one wanted to be a donor.

Catholicism: Organ and tissue donation is viewed as an act of charity and love. Transplants are morally and ethically acceptable to the Vatican.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons): The decision to be a donor for transplantation or research is left to the individual.

Episcopal: Encourages organ, blood and tissue donation. All are encouraged to become donors "as part of their ministry to others in the name of Christ, who gave his life that we may have life in its fullness."

Greek Orthodox: The church approves of organ and tissue donation provided they are used to better human life.

Hinduism: Hindus are not prohibited from donation as confirmed by religious laws. This act is an individual's decision, according to the Hindu Temple Society of North and South America.

Independent Conservative Evangelical: Generally, Evangelicals have no opposition to organ and tissue donation. Each church is autonomous and leaves the decision to donate up to the individual.

Islam: "Islamic juristic academies and fatwa (juristic opinion) bodies in the Muslim world ... are agreed on the permissibility and lawfulness of donating organs to patients whose survival or cure vitally depends on them," Sheikh Omar S. Abu-Namous, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, wrote in 2003.

Jehovah's Witnesses: Do not believe in blood transfusion; however, this only means that all blood must be removed from the organs and tissues before being transplanted, and it is not acceptable for an organ donor to receive blood as part of the organ recovery process.

Judaism: All four branches of Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist) support and encourage donation. Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Tendler, of Yeshiva University in New York City and the Rabbinical Council of America, cities the imperative from Deuteronomy 30:19: "You shall choose life."

Lutheran: Supports organ donation and says it can be "an expression of sacrificial love for a neighbor in need." They encourage talking with family about final arrangements and using signed donor cards to make their wishes clear.

Pentecostal: The decision to donate should be left up to the individual.

Presbyterian: Encourages and supports donation and respects a person's right to make decisions regarding their own body.

Protestantism: Because of the many Protestant denominations, a generalized statement on their attitudes toward organ/tissue donation cannot be made.

Denominations share a common belief in the New Testament (Luke 6:38: "Give to others and God will give to you"). Protestant churches, in general, respect individual conscience and a person's right to make decisions regarding his or her own body.

Quakers (Religious Society of Friends): No official position on donation, believe organ donation and transplantation is a matter of individual conscience.

Seventh-Day Adventist: Donation and transplantation are strongly encouraged. Seventh-Day Adventists have many transplant hospitals, including one in Loma Linda, Calif., which specializes in pediatric heart transplantation.

Unitarian Universalist: Affirms the value of organ and tissue donation, but leaves the decision to each individual.

United Church of Christ: "United Church of Christ people, churches and agencies are extremely and overwhelmingly supportive of organ sharing," according to the Rev. Jay Litner, director of the Washington Office for the United Christ of Christ.

United Methodist: Supports organ donation and issued the following statement in 1984: "The United Methodist Church recognizes the life-giving benefits of organ and tissue donors by signing and carrying cards or driver's licenses attesting to their commitment of such organs upon their death to those in need, as part of their ministry to others in the name of Christ, who gave his life that we might have life in its fullness."

Reach Makeba Scott Hunter at (973) 569-7154 or hunterm@northjersey.com.

Copyright © 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

This article posted Septembere 5, 2005.