Precious Organs for Unprecious People- Maggie and Rinda

Each year, hundreds of thousands of dollars from tax payers are used to keep death row prisoners such as Reyes-Camarena, on life saving treatment such as dialysis. It is being considered now that Reyes-Camarena can be placed on the kidney transplant list ahead of citizens who have never committed a crime. Reyes-Camarena was convicted of stabbing two sisters, fatally stabbing one multiple times, the other barely surviving. He was put on death row in 1997 and been receiving care ever since. According to abc news it is now it is being considered that Reyes-Camarena, with the state funding his medical care, could be placed on the transplant list ahead of others who did not commit any crimes and become Oregon’s first death-row inmate to receive an organ transplant. How can our justice system “reward” a death row murderer for a new kidney at the expense of innocent patients.

This case is not only disrespectful to the people giving up their organs thinking it’ll help someone in need to prolong their life, but it is also disrespectful to the taxpayers who have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep a death row inmate alive. Would you pay tax money to keep a convicted murderer alive? Imagine paying your taxes thinking you are contributing to the government improving education and healthcare, when you are really paying money to keep a convicted murderer alive even though he is on death row. Even though we don’t know when Reyes-Camarena’s death date is, he is already condemned to die, so why should he get a new kidney, that will only be used for a few more years that will be spent in a jail cell? Is Reyes Camarena an organ donor himself? When Reyes-Camarena dies, the new organ that he went through so much trouble to get, will just go to waste. There are mothers, fathers, innocent children waiting on this transplant list, waiting for hope that they’ll be able to live and grow up, however a convicted murderer who is sentenced to death gets placed above them, lessening their chances of survival. Take Dede’s story for example. Her story is a rewarding, happy story full of hope and love, but with placing Reyes-Camarena on the list, stories like this will become less possible and more people will pass away. An average of 8,030 people die each year while waiting for an organ transplant, should Reyes-Camarena be one of those people?  

Death row inmates who have done heinous crimes should not be allowed to receive an organ transplant. It is unfair to the general public and innocent patients who have been waiting for a transplant. While taxpayers pay for reyes-Camarena’s dialysis, families of non-murderers have to use their own money for their loved one’s dialysis, and watch their loved ones get sicker as the days pass while waiting for an organ transplant.