Anencephalic Newborns as Organ Donors

Abstract

To the Editor.— A recent commentary inTHE Journal 1 uses sophisticated reasoning and a variety of ethical arguments to arrive at the conclusion that our society should not condone the use of anencephalic infants with intact cardiorespiratory function as organ donors. After reading and rereading the article I find myself asking if this is not one of those times when intellectual analysis leads one away from the truth, not toward it. It is of little use, for example, to speculate on whether an anencephalic infant would want to be an organ donor if able to make a choice. He or she clearly will never have that luxury. Neither does it help to create a dichotomy between persons and nonpersons and to try to fit anencephalics into one category or the other. Arguments of this type are inherently unprovable and can continue interminably. The article by Arras and Shinnar 1 contains