Organ & Tissue Donation
Cultural and Religious Perspectives on Donation
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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.
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Hinduism
No prohibition from donating organs and tissuesMatter of individual choice
Buddhism
No official position on organ donationMatter 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 (8) hours
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"
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 familyConfucianismProhibited from damaging body as a wholeTraditionally against organ donation, but brain death was formally recognized in Korea in 2000 for the purposes of organ donation
Taoism
No objections to use of part of body after death
Judaism
All four branches of Judaism support and encourage organ and tissue donationGeneral principle "saving of a human life takes precedence over all other laws," including the delay in burialOrgan 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"
Islam
Strongly believes in the principal of saving human lifePermit 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
Baptist
Matter of individual choice
Episcopal
Encourage donation
Greek Orthodox
Support donation
Lutheran
Encourage donation
Jehovah's Witness
Matter of individual choiceAll blood must be removed from organs prior to transplant
Presbyterian
Encourage and promote donation
Catholicism
Encourage donation as an act of charity, and as a decision that belongs to each individual and must be made without undue pressureEthical 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"
Seventh Day Adventist
Strongly encourage donation and transplantation
Protestantism
Respects individual's choice
Romas
As a whole against donation
Mormon
Decision is a personal one
Amish
Consent to donation when it benefits the health and welfare of the transplant recipientReluctant to donate if transplant unlikely to succeed or if organs will be used for research
Church of Christ Science
Respects individual's choice
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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