X-Message-Number: 813 Date: 08 May 92 03:58:13 EDT From: Bob Smart <> Subject: cryonics: #812 Actually, in the article about delayed transplantation and "reanimation" of animal hearts, I was not only interested in the implications for suspension procedures, but in the social effects as well. I've heard that one of the State of California's arguments in favor of prohibiting cryonics revolves around the fact that suspension throws a monkey wrench into the accounting procedures of mortality; it isn't clear whether one should consider a suspended person "alive" or "dead" for recordkeeping purposes. In a typical display of bureaucratic threat-avoidance, the State wishes the whole issue would just go away, and argues that if WE can be made to "go away," then there won't be a problem and (best of all!) no vital-statistics forms will need to be revised after all. This latest development ("reanimation" of animal hearts) merely points out that like it or not, the frontiers of medical technology and capability ARE being pushed back, independent of the effects and implications of cryonics. Current legal definitions of "death" that depend on phrases like "cessation of heartbeat" or "irreversible heart stoppage" are ALREADY either obsolete or at least seriously out of step with medical realities, and the situation can only get more confusing and less rational until our society and our lawmakers finally grapple with the fundamental issues. Whether Gundry's work has any practical effect on suspension procedures or not, the ethical implications of what he has ALREADY done (let alone what he PROPOSES to do!) may be even more important for cryonics and cryonicists. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=813