Egypt’s Coptic Church Permits Post-Mortem Organ Donation For First Time

Pope Tawadros II has announced that “Organ donation after death is permissible. If any one wants to write a will [for organ donation], he/she can do so,” during his trip to inaugurate two new orthodox churches in New Jersey.

The topic of post-mortem organ harvesting and transplantation has long been a subject of heated debate in Egyptian history, with most religious entities strictly prohibiting the act.

Recently, however, Egypt’s Dar Al-Iftaa has permitted transplantation from both living and dead donors, on the grounds that the organ goes to those who are at death’s door, and under strictly legal circumstances, without any financial gain for anybody involved.

Conversely, organ trafficking has been a relentless stigma in Egypt, with many established hospitals involved in shady dealings with organ brokers. Many examples crop up periodically, with the latest example being a patient in Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital whose corneas were illegitimately removed post-mortem.

Main image from World Council of Churches