Organ Transplantation – Halachic Questions

Organ Transplantation – Halachic Questions

 

 

 

Question posed by:       Representative from the Audience

Response by:                Rabbi Saul Israeli

                                    Senior Member

                                    Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel

 

 

1.  Organs from a living donor

     May a person endanger his own life by donating an organ, or tissue such as bone-marrow, kidney, liver-lobe or lung-lobe?

     What degree of danger is allowed, and what degree of danger is forbidden?

     Is a person obliged to donate an organ if required to save another person's life?

 

2.  Sale of Organs        

     Is a person allowed to donate an organ or tissue from his body for payment?

     Is the sale of organs allowed, or forbidden?

 

3.  Organs from a Corpse

     Is a person obliged, or even allowed, to consent during his lifetime to the donation of organs after his death?

     Is a person obliged, or even allowed, to sign a form of consent and to carry a donor's card?

 

4.  What is the status of the family of a deceased person in respect of consenting or refusing to donate organs?