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A collision between the death penalty and a chance at life

At The Kudzu Files, hboswell has written about a situation that could have been presented as a hypothetical case in arguments over life and death.

A woman in need of a liver transplant has a close relative on death row in Indiana who has offered to donate, but the procedure that will be used to execute the inmate will essentially poison the liver, rendering it unfit to transplant. Apparently, the Indiana Department of Corrections is being very uncooperative.

One cannot help but wonder where all those who recently were proclaiming that life is sacred are now.

Go to The Kudzu Files for the details.

UPDATE: Thanks to Holly in Cincinnati who left a comment in the post at The Moderate Voice, there is more to the story. From The Indianapolis Star:

Doctor: Inmate's liver not needed
Condemned man's sister should easily get transplant once she's on list, specialist says.

By Vic Ryckaert and John Strauss
vic.ryckaert@indystar.com

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- An Anderson woman waiting to hear about a liver transplant from her brother on Death Row should have no trouble finding an organ even without his help, according to an Indiana University transplant specialist.

The brother, Gregory Scott Johnson, on Monday asked the Indiana Parole Board to spare his life or at least delay his scheduled execution next week, so he can donate all or part of his liver to his sister, Debra Otis. The parole board will have a hearing Friday, and Gov. Mitch Daniels will have the final say.

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But Otis, a former waitress, should have no trouble finding a donor organ and may be better off without taking part of her brother's liver, said Dr. Joseph Tector, director of transplantation at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

"If this were my sister and I could give part of my liver to her, I still would rather that she got a whole organ because it's a better graft," Tector said.

"It will give her better function, with a better long-term result."

Otis is not on the transplant waiting list because she is recovering from fractured vertebrae and an infection, her family said.