Harvard and two Canadian doctors want this rule “reassessed”

A new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine—written by two Canadian critical-care physicians and a Harvard Medical School bioethicist—asks whether the dead donor rule should be "reassessed" for MAiD patients. Specifically, it explores whether organs could be retrieved while a patient is sedated, unconscious, and still alive, with the organ retrieval itself becoming the cause of death.As reported by the National Post, the authors argue that requiring a formal declaration of death before organ retrieval may be "ethically arbitrary," and describe the proposal as "a Pareto improvement: no one would be made worse off."In this episode, we break down:- What the paper actually says, including its important caveats. The authors are not calling for the dead donor rule to be abandoned, no jurisdiction is currently considering this proposal, and they explicitly call for "open, transparent dialogue."- Why this proposal has unmistakable Canadian fingerprints. Canada now leads the world in organ donation after MAiD, with 41 cases in 2021 compared with 20 combined across Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. Since 2016, there have been more than 155 MAiD organ donors in Canada.- The five-minute "no-touch" protocol that currently separates death from organ retrieval, and why some researchers believe it should be reconsidered.- The objections from within the medical ethics community, including bioethicist Lainie Friedman Ross, who told NPR: "Which I think is murder."- The broader pattern: 2016 (terminal illness only), 2021 (terminal illness requirement removed), and March 2027 (mental illness eligibility). The phrase "No one is proposing that" has often meant "not yet published." This proposal is now published in one of the world's leading medical journals.I warned for years that euthanasia and organ donation were on a path toward convergence and was repeatedly told it was misinformation.Now, the discussion is appearing in a peer-reviewed medical journal.SOURCESSharon Kirkey, "'Death by organ donation': Doctors raise possibility of retrieving organs from MAID patients while they are still alive," National Post (July 23, 2026):https://unpublished.ca/news-feed-item/2026-07-23/death-by-organ-donation-doctors-raise-possibility-of-retrieving-organs"Contextualizing the Dead Donor Rule in an Era of Voluntary Euthanasia," New England Journal of Medicine:https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms2601611NPR – Lainie Friedman Ross interview:https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/nx-s1-5883714/a-new-proposal-for-organ-donation-sparks-concernCanadian Blood Services – Professional guidance on organ donation and MAiD:https://professionaleducation.blood.ca/en/organs-and-tissues/professional-guidance/deceased-donation-after-maidNational Post (prior reporting) – American recipient of a heart from an Ontario ALS patient who died by MAiD:https://ca.news.yahoo.com/american-man-gets-heart-38-110042532.htmlPRE-ORDERDo No Harm?: How the Healthcare Industry Legalized Murder (Skyhorse, March 2027)https://www.amazon.com/dp/151078893XBuy me a coffee! - https://buymeacoffee.com/kelsisherenDo No Harm? - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683585763?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_SC8YGT87SPJ1VB8SAYP1Let's connect!Substack: https://substack.com/@kelsisherenRumble - https://rumble.com/user/TheKelsiSherenPerspectiveInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/thekelsisherenperspective?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw%3D%3DX: https://x.com/KelsisherenSUPPORT OUR PEOPLE - - - - - - - - - - - -Ketone IQ- 30% off with code KELSI - https://ketone.com/KELSIGood Livin - 20% off with code KELSI - https://www.itsgoodlivin.com/?ref=KELSIBrass & Unity - 20% off with code UNITY - http://www.brassandunity.com