Medical progress and the human soul
Muggeridge, M.
Transplantation Proceedings 17(6 Suppl 4: 7-10
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-1345 PMID: 4071628 Document Number: 255156
This essay was presented as an introduction to a conference on human organ transplantation. It is the author's contention that, although medicine has been able to do much for the human body, little has been achieved for the human soul. The quality of life has come to replace the sanctity of life as a central societal concept. The field of transplant surgery has given rise to a growing traffic in human organs. This phenomenon threatens a loss of respect for the dead. The cadaver has come to have a market value. Those who promote transplants are urged to examine abortion for an example of the consequences of a social action that has gotten out of control. Although proponents of abortion legislation insisted they only wanted abortion to be available as a backup, an abortion takes place in England today every 3 minutes.