In what situation(s) would you abandon your morals?

We were talking about organ harvesting in my ethics class the other day, and one of my classmates was given the hypothetical situation that her daughter was dying and needed an organ transplant immediately. Would she (the mother) take her child to China to buy the organ (I think it's an open market?) of a prisoner who had just been executed for a petty crime? The government is making lots of money on the harvesting of organs, and is executing people for their religion or for petty theft, etc, because it is so profitable for them. The prisoners are shot based on what organs are needed the most at that time. The prisoners are chosen the same way, so they are executed when their particular organs are in need.

Her response: She would not buy the organ because it would be immoral to do so, she would accept that her daughter was not meant to live a long life.

I'm not asking specifically in this situation of course, but what morals would you abandon and in what situations?

Just curious. I, for one, would do anything in my power to save my family if needed. In response to the hypothetical scenario, if my daughter needed an organ and a transplant in our country was out of the question, I'd be on the first plane to China. Does that make me immoral? Can anyone other than a mother (or father) truly know the lengths they would go to protect/save their child?

I honestly think (based off of the scenerio) that I would do anything and everything to save my child.

To answer the question as a whole: I think when it came to my child, my morals would be pushed aside depending on the situation.

I would do anything to save my son - so if that means going to china and paying for an organ, then so be it. I could never willingly just sit there and let my child die, when I knew there were options that could save his life. I hope that makes sense.

See and I was thinking, that coming from mothers, the responses would be different than coming from a childless college student because I don't think anyone can ever truly know what they would do for their child until they have one. I was amazed at how simply she said you know "well, I'd have to accept that it was her time to go." I'm sorry, I could never accept that, not without trying every possible option.

To me-if the prisoner is killed specifically because my daughter needed one of his/her organs, he would be dead within weeks/months anyway, if not to save my child's life than to save someone else's a little while down the line.
So, to me, it's really not about "killing" someone to save my daughter, kwim?

question: Is any one irked about the fact that the organ would be from China? I am a bit. When I imagine China, I imagine poverty and people aborting their female children. 0.0 Kind of how I would not take an organ harvested in: Iraq, India,the Belgian Congo, Sudan, Columbia, etc. Just seems like playing Russian Roulette with a clip loaded weapon. :dunno

So, I guess I wouldn't exactly go to that length to save my(hypothetical) child because the benefit/cost analysis would indicate to close of a margin between the two, both weighing on the side of probable failure.

Or maybe I am over thinking this too much.

question: Is any one irked about the fact that the organ would be from China? I am a bit. When I imagine China, I imagine poverty and people aborting their female children. 0.0 Kind of how I would not take an organ harvested in: Iraq, India,the Belgian Congo, Sudan, Columbia, etc. Just seems like playing Russian Roulette with a clip loaded weapon. :dunno

So, I guess I wouldn't exactly go to that length to save my(hypothetical) child because the benefit/cost analysis would indicate to close of a margin between the two, both weighing on the side of probable failure.

Or maybe I am over thinking this too much.

I am totally not following...

I'm really not sure about the question at hand. It is a toughie.

question: Is any one irked about the fact that the organ would be from China? I am a bit. When I imagine China, I imagine poverty and people aborting their female children. 0.0 Kind of how I would not take an organ harvested in: Iraq, India,the Belgian Congo, Sudan, Columbia, etc. Just seems like playing Russian Roulette with a clip loaded weapon. :dunno

So, I guess I wouldn't exactly go to that length to save my(hypothetical) child because the benefit/cost analysis would indicate to close of a margin between the two, both weighing on the side of probable failure.

Or maybe I am over thinking this too much.

No I am not irked about the organ coming from china.

And yes I would fly to china to save my child.

No I would not fly t China to purchase an organ for my child. It is a communist government, I have no idea if the person who's organ I have just bought was actually guilty or if they were just someone the government did not approve of.

In China it is very easy to be sent to prison, the system is corrupt. I could not do that not even to save my child, I could not murder in order to save a life.

I think 99.998% of ALL moms would go to any length to save their child's life....me included.

But with this scenario; let see...the Chinese govenment would arrest and put to death someone in order to sell that needed organ..so an organ "order" would be placed? (since the transplant has to occur within XXX hours of harvest).....I would have to say "no"...I don't think I could live with the fact that I "ordered" someone put to death...

Swing the question around; What would you do if YOUR government arrested your husband/wife/mother/father/sister/brother/child in order to sell their organs to a weathly family?

Murder for profit? No thanks :no

This is an easy answer for me. There is no way I would be buying organs from other countries to save my child.

I would be praying and looking for the right answer to come my way. That does not mean I would sit back and do nothing either. It may mean finding new doctor's or a different hospital.

I do not throw my morals aside because they suit a specific situation.

People who believe in God would know that prayer is the best answer. God has a plan and He will help you through what ever His plan is.

This is an easy answer for me. There is no way I would be buying organs from other countries to save my child.

I would be praying and looking for the right answer to come my way. That does not mean I would sit back and do nothing either. It may mean finding new doctor's or a different hospital.

I do not throw my morals aside because they suit a specific situation.

People who believe in God would know that prayer is the best answer. God has a plan and He will help you through what ever His plan is.

ITA.

I honestly think (based off of the scenerio) that I would do anything and everything to save my child.

To answer the question as a whole: I think when it came to my child, my morals would be pushed aside depending on the situation.

:agree

I guess my post wasn't so much based on morals, but more of a "Am I just going to be putting something poisonous into my childs body?"

I mean, come on, it's a crappy country, with parasites, and diseases, and weird medicines.

And do you think that they keep them healthy in prison?

I guess I would view it coming based on a "Call NOW to receive this SHINY NEW PRIZE!" type basis. And we know anything presented in such a manner has GOT to be total crap.

I would do anything humanly possible to save my daughter. Screw morals, if it comes to saving her life.

This is an easy answer for me. There is no way I would be buying organs from other countries to save my child.

I would be praying and looking for the right answer to come my way. That does not mean I would sit back and do nothing either. It may mean finding new doctor's or a different hospital.
I do not throw my morals aside because they suit a specific situation.

People who believe in God would know that prayer is the best answer. God has a plan and He will help you through what ever His plan is.

I agree. I would put it in God's hands. His will be done.

What makes one life more important than another?

I guess my post wasn't so much based on morals, but more of a "Am I just going to be putting something poisonous into my childs body?"

I mean, come on, it's a crappy country, with parasites, and diseases, and weird medicines.

And do you think that they keep them healthy in prison?

I agree with that bold part. Also I won't go into details of what I've read but one disease that is EXTREMELY prevalent in China, (and has even been transmitted here in the US via organ donation, when the people were not properly tested.) No not Aids!

First of all I would never buy an organ, not even to save my child. Second of all I wouldn't want to take my child to a country that I have no clue how they would be treated. I might have to sit and watch my child die a miserable, horrid, PAINFUL death because that country didn't have the same practices for pain management etc. There is just no way I could abandon all fear and go for something so unsure and scary......especially when it might mean that my child would suffer unspeakable pain:no

I'd rip the kidney from a stranger to save anyone I loved lol.

Not really- well kinda not really.

Umm I wouldn't be praying.. I would be doing EVERYTHING in my power to save my kid.

Well I guess the topic was not so much about the details of the situation-like the organ being from an adult or possibly not being in very good condition, which of course are contributing factors in the decision making. I never even looked at it that way, but when you do, I think the decision is not based as much on the ethics of the situation but rather the details.

That is an awesome debate question....

After thinking about it... I don't think I could do it and maintain a clear conscience.

Then again, I'm not a mother, so I really have no idea.

mmm...maybe i'm a little off topic but...first of all i wouldn't trust anything from china--they can't even make toys anymore. and second of all i don't know if insurance companies would exactly be jumping all over that...where would the money come from?

i believe in a higher power than this earth however...i can't play god :dunno I'd do anything to help my baby but there is a line--and to me that's crossing it.

Okay, Morally speaking my answer is still a huge no.

However, I will still argue that, just throwing all of the "details" aside just to fit a selfish desire, would be crossing a moral line also. Wanting to have your child live at all costs, even if it meant untold conditions for a child, could IMO be considered crossing just as large of a moral line.

I would do anything to save my children. but I would never go against my morals to save them if there was the possibility of putting them in danger at the same time.

Yeah, I have no children yet, but I know I would not do this FOR my husband or mother, etc. If they could not make the decision, I would not make it for them. It is REALLY hard for me to not think about all of the factors in the situation.

I'd rip the kidney from a stranger to save anyone I loved lol.

Not really- well kinda not really.

Umm I wouldn't be praying.. I would be doing EVERYTHING in my power to save my kid.



Me too. :D

personally & hypothetically, sure, i'd do as much as i could to stear his/her fate towards life. however, i dont think i would travel to another county to have a prisoner killed to harvest organs. china aside. it's not against china, but their policies. i wouldn't go to england either if they did the same thing.

I don't know what to say here, as I am not in fact a mother. I would like to think I would do everything within my human power to give my child what he or she needs, though.

i couldn't do it. i can't put my morals aside just because they aren't convenient to have atm. i couldn't make the choice that one life is more valuable than another.

in that particular situation, i couldn't do it because it would be imo equivalent to me pulling the trigger, and killing somebody who hasn't done anything to me/my family just because i want something they have is wrong.

and also, turning the situation around, if somebody came and killed my husband on some trumped up charge because some rich family a million miles away wanted his organs, i would probably lose all faith in humanity. who are they to say their child is worth more than my husband's life?

this is a good topic for debate though, interesting question.

I have been thinking about this more. And one more thing that comes to mind is that if you act immorally to do something for someone you love, what have you taught the people you love?

I firmly believe that you reap what you sow. If you do evil things then evil things will happen to you.

I don't have kids, but I couldn't see putting someone else to death so my child could live.

Or we could spin this in favor of my dogs since my dogs are my kids and there have been a few cases where I've spent a good deal of money to make sure they are healthy in emergency situations.

I would not order someone else's animal to be put to death so I could save one of my girls. I would be DEVASTATED to lose one of my girls, but part of life is death. I have come to realize that through out the 22 years I've been alive and seen both the birth of a new life and the death of a life not ready to be extinguished.


So what it comes down to is... I COULD NOT carry the weight of someone's untimely death on my shoulders because my son or daughter is dying. That person is a son or daugther, a mother or father, a sister or brother, etc etc...

I just happened to have caught a show on tonight about this very subject. It came on National Geographic @ 10pm and it's was called "Inside The Body Trade". Very interesting! Totally weird how I just happened to be flipping through the channels tonight and found it right before it came on.

It's been made illegal in China now, for foreigners to receive organs there.......however it's still alive and well in other parts of the world:no

I couldn't do it either. I believe that God would provide a way and if not, that He would know what He is doing. I would hate to lose my baby...it unbearable to even fathom it but I couldn't accept that organ.

I wouldn't do it. I have a child and have lost a child. I do not believe my life or the lives of my loved ones are worth more than a strangers, just because they have something I want or need. That is really crossing some grey areas, and I think once you go there, you are in deep trouble.

Morality comes at a price nowadays? :thinking

I would do anything, including KILL to DEFEND and PROTECT my child, but I would not kill FOR my child. Do you understand what I mean? There is a difference in those statements. It is not my place, nor anyone else to decide when it's someone time to die, whether inadvertantly or purposely, your decision would be part of the resulting factor of someones death regardless if they were meant to die in a few days anyways or a few weeks... My life is no more important than the next persons, my childs life is no more important than some impoverished theif in China or innocent who just wants to follow his own religion. They are a product of their environment and there is only one judgement that matters and it's not coming from me and I wouldn't be a part of someones death for my own personal gain or selfishness.