AST Weighs in on Mississippi Governor's Statement Linking Suspended Prison Sentence and Organ Donation
AST has called upon Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to delink the suspended prison sentence for Gladys Scott from her willingness to become an organ donor to her sister Jamie. For the past 16 years, Gladys and Jamie have been serving out life prison sentences for burglary. Governor Barbour suspended the sisters' life sentences last week, but 36-year-old Gladys Scott's release was said to be contingent on her giving a kidney to her 38-year-old sister Jamie who requires daily dialysis.
The AST has reached out to educate and make the Governor's office aware that any link between the act of organ donation and the commuting or suspending of a prison sentence runs counter to the current standard of practice for organ transplantation and widely accepted medical ethics (Read the letter). AST has sought to educate the Barbour Administration regarding the fact that donating an organ in exchange for anything of value is prohibited under the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984. As amended, NOTA prohibits knowingly acquiring, receiving or otherwise transferring any human organ for valuable consideration if the transfer affects interstate commerce.
The AST has encouraged Governor Barbour to base his decision solely on the merits of Gladys Scott's legal standing and not on her willingness to become an organ donor. Failure to remove organ donation from the vetting process of such a suspended sentence jeopardizes the altruistic motivation for all organ donation and sets a dangerous precedent for the future of solid organ transplantation.
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