Originally published at National Catholic Register
A recent news report out of Kentucky revealed a slim but pointed risk regarding organ donation, one that underscores a key Church teaching about how the process of gifting one’s organs must play out.
Congressional testimony in September revealed a 2021 incident in which a man named TJ Hoover was declared brain dead and a medical team was assembled to harvest his organs. In the operating room, however, Hoover was found to still be alive. Multiple medical officials quit over what they described as a traumatic experience.
“Several of us that were employees needed to go to therapy,” one worker told National Public Radio. Government authorities are investigating the incident.
What does the Catholic Church say about organ donation?
The Catholic Church states that organ donation is an acceptable and even morally laudable practice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that organ transplants “are in conformity with the moral law,” though only “if the physical and psychological dangers and risks to the donor are proportionate to the good that is sought for the recipient” (No. 2296).
Organ donation after death, meanwhile, “is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as an expression of generous solidarity.” However,
