Organ Transplants for Felons: Article Summary

Should rights to organ transplants be given to convicted felons in equal value to innocent people? Does it seem right to save a criminal's life and let another innocent person die? Steve Wiegand of the Sacramento Bee explains that inmates have the same right to medical care as any other citizen. He is quoted, "Since then, hundreds of subsequent cases have established that inmates have a right to medical care equal to that of the public in general." In this article by Ph.D David L. Perry, he talks about a convicted felon in California that was given a new heart in 2002. My personal reaction to the article is that if a criminal is in prison for something other than threatening lives in any way, they should have another chance at life and therefore have an equal right to organ transplants. But if the criminal has killed, raped, or threatened someone's life in any way, they should not get the organ. Their life is no more valuble than anyone else's.