The case for presumed consent to transplant human organs after death
Cohen, C.
Transplantation Proceedings 24(5): 2168-2172
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-1345 PMID: 1413020 Document Number: 3571
A necessary condition for the lifesaving uses of the organs of a human body after death is the permission of those who have rightful authority over the body in question. Each of us is the possessor, master, of our own body, and therefore (it is almost universally agreed) we have wide moral authority to give or withhold permission for the use of our body after death. Just rules for the disposition of human bodily remains therefore must respect individual autonomy in that disposition. Autonomous expressions of will regarding the post-humous disposition of one's organs are most often not made while alive, and therefore a decedent's autonomous judgments are rarely known with certainty. After death, authority over the body is commonly thought to rest with the decedent's family, who are likely to represent best the true will of the decedent. But even they cannot exercise the decedent's autonomy, since no one can do that.
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