Cultural and Religious Perspectives on Organ and Tissue Donation

Culture and religion play a significant role in end-of-life experiences, including how people respond to illness, how grief is demonstrated, what rituals are important at death and which members of the family are present.

Most religious groups endorse organ donation and/or respect the individual's choice. Beliefs about tissue donation vary as some groups may consider tissue donation life enhancing, and distinguish it from organ donation which is more often life saving.


Amish

  • Consent to donation when it benefits the health and welfare of the transplant recipient
  • Reluctant to donate if transplant unlikely to succeed or if organs will be used for research


Baptist

  • Matter of individual choice


Buddhism

  • No official position on organ donation
  • Matter of individual choice, and of the attitude of each school or tradition of Buddhism, as tied to the concept of "rebirth" and when it occurs. The Southern tradition permits autopsies and organ/tissue transplants, in the belief that rebirth occurs immediately upon death. The Northern tradition believes that there is an intermediate state between "incarnations", and avoids movement or touching of the body for eight hours


Catholicism

  • Encourage donation as an act of charity, and as a decision that belongs to each individual and must be made without undue pressure
  • Ethical considerations must be taken into account (e.g. no commercialization of human organs, the need for informed consent), and "the removal of vital organs" must not take place "until natural death has occurred and been ascertained"
  • Download the Catholic brochure


Church of Christ Science

  • Respects individual's choice


Confucianism

  • Prohibited from damaging body as a whole
  • Traditionally against organ donation, but brain death was formally recognized in Korea in 2000 for the purposes of organ donation


Episcopal

  • Encourage donation


Greek Orthodox

  • Support donation


Hinduism


Islam

  • Strongly believes in the principal of saving human life
  • Permit organ transplant as a priority in saving human lives - as long as the human body is respected and treated with dignity, and the sanctity and protection of human life are paramount; a person must give freely and without undue pressure, for the purposes of saving another life or to enable another person to perform a missing and essential function
  • Download the Islamic brochure


Jehovah's Witness

  • Matter of individual choice
  • All blood must be removed from organs prior to transplant


Judaism

  • All four branches of Judaism support and encourage organ and tissue donation
  • General principle "saving of a human life takes precedence over all other laws," including the delay in burial
  • Organ and tissue donation is encouraged not only "for humanity's sake," but also "for God's sake, as a supreme expression of Godliness, of true, ultimate sharing: a religious act par excellence"
  • Download the Jewish brochure
  • Video Feature: Frank Bialystok commemorates 13 years living with his donated liver with a Bar Mitzvah
  • DVD Feature: "The Orthodox Jewish Perspective on Organ and Tissue Donation: Rabbi Dr. Moshe David Tendler in Conversation with Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka" (2011). This 57-minute DVD captures the discussion between Rabbi Tendler and Rabbi Bulka on the Orthodox Jewish perspective on organ and tissue donation. Also includes a brief question and answer period. To request a copy please send an email to: info@giftoflife.on.ca. NOTE: Only limited quantities are available.


Lutheran

  • Encourage donation
  • Matter of individual choice
  • All blood must be removed from organs prior to transplant


Mormon

  • Decision is a personal one


Presbyterian

  • Encourage and promote donation


Protestantism

  • Respects individual's choice


Romas

  • As a whole against donation


Seventh Day Adventist

  • Strongly encourage donation and transplantation


Shinto

  • Either clearly oppose or are extremely cautious regarding organ and tissue donation; families are concerned that they do not injure the "itai": the relationship between the dead person and the bereaved family


Sikhism

  • Support a positive stance on organ and tissue donation. Sikh philosophy and teaching places great emphasis on the importance of selfless service to others, and the performance of "noble deeds:" "the physical body is a temporary abode of a person's soul, and it is the soul that is one's real essence"


Taoism

  • No objections to use of part of body after death

If your religion states that it restricts the use of the body after death, you should consult your religious leader.


Organ & Tissue as End-Of-Life Option, 2002
Gillman, 1999
Health Canada, 2000

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