A Debt to Society

Only 14,000 people a year donate organs.
That's less than 1% of the incarcerated population in the US.


Last night in January's issue of Esquire magazine, I read a gruesome article about a man named Christian Longo and his sudden dissention into murderous insanity.


A word of caution; if you have a young family of your own, or are planning to start one, this article hits close to home and contains heartbreaking details.


Read the article here


The author circles around an idea he and Longo stumbled upon called G.A.V.E. - Gifts of Anatomical Value from the Executed. GAVE is a movement to change state policies on lethal injections that would allow organs from the executed to be donated to those in need. As it stands now, current injections make such donations impossible because they cause organ failure. If a method could be found that shuts down the brain as opposed to the other organs (kidneys, liver, lungs) we could greatly increase the number of available organs. My suggestion for a new method; 1 bullet, instant brain death.


Although it was born from a monster, I can get behind the idea.


Criminals owe this to us.


It's their debt to society. We as taxpayers pave the way to keep them alive (ie: prison food, clothing, shelter, etc) They should now return the favor and help keep us alive. I mean, isn't that what incarceration is all about? You stole the rights and liberties of other free citizens, so in turn you lose yours. At least death row inmates, right? The way the prison system has evolved it seems more and more like the American public is simply throwing away money to keep these criminals alive during endless, recycling appeal processes. Where's does society get paid back?


GAVE could be the place. If only %1 of inmates were able to donate their organs after execution, the number of usable organs in America would more than double. This means a %50 reduction to the 3 year waiting period to have a kidney replaced.


I say again, FIFTY PERCENT.


That's 547 days, which to me is A LOT OF LIVING. It's nearly the entire span of my daughter, Meredith's life. Twice that of my daughter, Brooklyn. Nearly a quarter of my marriage, a third of my teaching career, half of my time spent in college, more than a full pregnancy term, two full major league baseball seasons, 1,641 meals, 2 family reunions, Christmases, Easters, Thanksgivings, I could go on and on. To boil it down, just changing from an injection to a bullet would do leagues of good in the life of someone with a chronic illness.


Many in America are opposed to the death penalty. GAVE could even be applied on a less abrasive scale. Blood and plasma donations could be made on a regular basis from not only those serving on death row but all inmates. That in itself could change lives. Save lives. Think about the positive affect it will have on the new social healthcare laws that have been set forth. If social healthcare is as bad as I've heard, it looks like GAVE isn't going to be an option before long. We're going to need it. Some people might wince at the thought of receiving blood from a prison inmate but I believe the decision is probably much easier when made at death's doorstep.


If you honestly think about it, GAVE could really make a difference, one day even for yourself.


So what do we do?


Ratify the new policy into law? Write to our senators? Donate our time, energy or money to GAVE? To the monster Longo?


No.


If we get behind this, we donate to ourselves. To our neighbors. To our children.


Think about it. Then act on it.
www.gavelife.org


Thanks to Michael Finkel and Esquire Magazine for publishing the article.