Two sisters who made an armed robbery netting $11 sparks a debate after a Mississippi governor offers to release them with a price. The governor is requiring one sister to donate her kidney to the other.The condition of the release has alarmed critics and experts a ethical and legal questions arose. One question stands; if the sisters aren’t a tissue match then the healthy one has to go back to jail?
The governor Haley Barbour, decided to suspend the life sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott to the appreciation and applause of civil rights organizations and the attorney of the accused women. It was earlier reported that the masses considered the charges a bit harsh. Both sisters are black and some speculated that their coloring may have had a slight influence in the outcome of the initial trial. The suspension of the life sentences was a cause of celebration for the African-American community.
Both women were convicted in1994. According to records, there were three teenagers who lead on two men into an ambush. The teenagers hit the two men and made off with one wallet with $11. Jamie Scott is to be released because of her daily dialysis which cost the state some $200,000 a year. Gladys on the other hand has to donate her kidney within the year before being granted release.
This is the first time that this kind of condition was made for an organ donor. Usually an organ donor is made with consent, free of any coercion. The fact that the freedom will be given for the price of a kidney goes against most ethics and legal considerations in organ donation.
While suspending the life sentences may be a breakthrough for civil rights, the conditions may be worse. According to federal law, no one is allowed to trade or sell any organs. What is happening now is like trading 20 years in prison for a kidney.
Andriel, Netherlands