Massachusetts prisoners can shave off jail time if they donate organs and bone marrow

Question

A proposal to let prisoners in Massachusetts donate organs and bone marrow to shave time off their sentence is raising profound ethical and legal questions.

Answer 1

This is true. In January 2023, Massachusetts state representatives Carlos González and Judith García filed bill HD.3822, titled "An Act to establish the Massachusetts incarcerated individual bone marrow and organ donation program." The bill proposed that eligible incarcerated individuals could receive between 60 days to 12 months off their sentence in exchange for bone marrow or organ donations. The bill would establish a five-person committee to oversee the program, including a bone marrow specialist and an advocate for organ donation. While the proposal was real, it faced significant opposition and ethical concerns from various groups, including medical ethicists and prisoner rights advocates. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/01/massachusetts-prisoners-organ-donations

However, according to ABC News, a Massachusetts legislator said he would change the proposed bill that would have given inmates reduced sentences if they signed up to donate an organ, following an outcry from several groups. The language used in the bill needs to be amended to remove incentives. The bill was created to let inmates donate to family members while in prison to cut through the red tape.

Comments

I appreciate how well thought out this answer is, including the bill itself in the response adds extra credibility.  It does seem to spark questions of how ethical it is to incentivize organ donation such an extreme way.

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I thought your response was well thought out and intentional. Using two different sources, really helped bring out the fact of how different one's article can be written.

Answer 2

This claim is not entirely wrong; however, it is just a bill that has been proposed in Massachusetts. So, while this could happen, chances are unlikely as the proposal has faced large amounts of backlash. The bill is still making its way through Massachusetts Congress (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/HD3822), with amendments being made as they see fit.

It is also important to note that the bill does not grant prisoners freedom if they decide to donate their organs; it allows them to reduce their sentences by a small amount. The BBC also reported an article on this topic and clarified that "Donors would receive at least 60 days but no more than one year off their sentences" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64488678). While the bill has been proposed, the original claim is a bit misleading. However, it is neither true nor false. It just has not happened yet.

Comments

This is a really helpful response, highlighting the fact that this could eventually be true, just not right now as it is only a proposal. This response also does a great job of clarifying the extent to which jail time might be shaved off.

Answer 3

After reading this prompt I found it very interesting and first wondered whether or not it was true and if not what happened. I think this concept is super interesting that people who have committed crimes and are serving time can sacrifice parts of their body that they don't need to live but others do. I looked through a couple articles and found two that I felt were credible and educational. The first one is ABC news which talks about how this bill was proposed but was never passed because of the negative back lash for example : "Word of the bill's language set off a slew of criticism from prisoner's rights groups and advocates for organ donations who called the move a quid pro quo." which is I think is valid to a certain extent but Alexandra Glazier who argued "There is substantial concern that our system is free of coercion or personal gain," she said. "That public trust in the system has to be based on people making a free and fair choice." which I think is true. Another source I found called AP news stated " The bill may run afoul of federal law, which bars the sale of human organs or acquiring one for valuable consideration" which makes a very good point. Could this bill be seen as interchanging one's organs for more or less time off their sentence, and if so is that not selling them for something which they value.

 

Massachusetts legislator walks back bill to reduce sentences if inmates sign up for organ donation - ABC News

Organs in exchange for freedom? Bill raises ethical concerns | AP News