Salem Lutheran Church
Resolution on Organ Donation
Link to Church Council

Resolution on Organ Donation
Approved by the Salem Lutheran Church Council
For Submission to the Southern California West Synod of the Lutheran Church in America and ultimate approval by the ELCA

Whereas, over the last thirty years organ and tissue transplantation has evolved from an experimental, last resort to a standard procedure of potential benefit to many, and

Whereas, remarkable successes of various transplantation procedures have resulted in a situation where demand for donor organs and tissue vastly exceeds the supply, and

Whereas, as a consequence of these shortages, concerns continue to arise about the possible buying and selling of organs, the inequitable distribution of the existing supply, and the high cost of transplantation, and

Whereas, in 1982 a convention of the LCA adopted the Social Statement "Death and Dying" which indicated that patients, their families, and all individuals have a responsibility to consider "the possibility of organ donation as a means of sharing life with others:' That same convention requested the Division for Mission in North America to consider organ donation in its ongoing work in bioethics. (1982 LCAM, p. 319; 1984 LCAM, p. 414.) In 1984 the LCA adopted a resolution of Organ Transplantation that is similar to this resolution, and

Whereas, it is important to have the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) develop a position and policy supporting organ transplantation, and

WHEREAS geography, chance, economic status and access to the media may play disproportionate roles in determining who will receive organs for transplantation; and

WHEREAS opinion polls show that there is widespread willingness to donate organs upon death but also widespread misconception about organ donation procedures, and that relatively few persons have signed donor cards;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Southern California West Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America calls upon the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to adopt the following as its policyon organ donation and transplantation:

1.Donation of cadaver organs is an appropriate means of contributing to the health and well-being of the human family, and

2.The Evangelical Lutheran Church recognizes that the donation of renewable tissue (e.g., bone marrow) and live organs (e.g., a kidney) can be an expression of sacrificial love for a neighbor in need, and

3.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America encourages its members to consider the possibility of organ donation and to communicate their wishes to family members, physicians and health care institutions, and

4.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America encourages those willing to donate to make the necessary familial and legal arrangements including the use of a signed donor card, and

5.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America calls upon its pastors to acquaint themselves with the ethical and legal issues and clinical procedures involved in order that they may counsel persons and families considering the possibility of donation, and

6.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America urges its pastors, congregations, synods, agencies and institutions to sponsor educational programs on organ donation, and

7.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America calls upon government to establish public policies which will encourage voluntary donations, discourage coercive donation, assure the efficient, equitable distribution of human organs and tissues for transplants, and disallow both the sale and purchase of human organs.

Adopted by the Salem Lutheran Church Council
Glendale, California
December 10, 2002