X-Message-Number: 2309
From: whscad1!kqb (Kevin Q Brown +1 201 386 7344)
Subject: CRYONICS Presumed Donor

I have appended below, with permission, a recent posting to the
Extropians list by Ray Cromwell concerning a proposed Pennsylvania
law that would be dangerous to cryonicists.  Unfortunately, that
is about all he knows about it, since the part he learned was just
the bit he caught at the end of a TV news show.  Does anyone else
on the list have more information on this?  As Ray says, this is
"a meme to kill".  That is true not only in the sense that we need to
kill it but also in the sense that it can become a "license to kill"
if enacted.  Thanks!

                              Kevin Q. Brown
                              INTERNET    
                                 or       

<<< PA Official to Alcor: "Gee, I'm sooooo sorry, but, after that car
    accident, his bracelet was so badly damaged we could hardly read it,
    and to ensure freshness of his organs, we had to harvest them immediately.
    Not until now did we have a chance to call you.  You can, of course,
    have the leavings..."  >>>

-----
> From:  (Ray)
> Subject: A meme to kill
> Date: Thu, 17 Jun 93 3:19:26 WET DST
> X-Extropian-Date: Remailed on June 17, 373 P.N.O. [07:19:33 UTC]

 "Presumed Donor"

  This is a law being considered in PA. It states that unless you
specify otherwise, you are presumed to be an organ donor at death.
I see this as coming into conflict with cryonics -- with the state
eventually declaring ownership of your organs at death and carving up
your body. Sure, you can voluntarily opt out now, but who knows in the
future? Such a law would set a dangerous precendent.

-- Ray Cromwell        |    Engineering is the implementation of science;    --
-- EE/Math Student     |       politics is the implementation of faith.      --
--   |                         - Zetetic Commentaries      --
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