Name: Tang Wing Hin ID: 14092652D
Organ Donation: Should organ donation be made mandatory in Hong Kong?
In Hong Kong, a considerable number of people are not able to live a normal life because of the organ malfunctions. According to Iris Yeung (2000), some of them may soon die, some of them totally rely on the machines to live. As stated by Tam (2012), mandatory organ donation means that government restrict their citizen to donate their organ through legislation. However, the rate of organ donation of Hong Kong is relatively low in Asia. There are different opinions in the society, some are opposing it and some are supporting it. Coggon (2012) pointed out some challenges of law, policy and public ethics when implementing the mandatory organ donation. Vardit (2013) stated that we should consider more about the ethic and it is worth to donate our organs to those in need. This paper tries to analyze these two schools of thought in different perspectives and identify the justification behind them. This paper argues the public should not keep their remains intact and discard their organs solely due to the conventional beliefs, as saving lives should be at the top of the priority.
Coggon (2012) states that people have right to decide the use of their bodies and the government should respect the right of the people. Everybody have their right to decide how to treat their remains. Some people or their families have their religion or belief to keep their bodies intact even it is buried and there are many religions which are against organ transplant. For example, most Hong Kong families have the thought of keeping their body intact when it is buried and it is important to them (Yeung, 2000). According to Alexander (1983), there is not sufficient legal justification could be found for mandatory organ removal even though organs are in scarce level. Hence, implementing the law might actually backfire. Respecting the personal liberty is our universal value so the...