It is not every day that a new and terrifying idea burbles up from America’s legislators, but it is most of them. On Feb. 2, CBS Boston reported that a new bill allowing prisoners in Massachusetts to donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for reduced sentences had been proposed by Democratic Reps. Carlos Gonzalez and Judith A. Garcia. However, according to ABC News as of Feb. 9, the proposal Gonzalez  made “was never intended to be a quid pro quo for prisoners, he was amending the language to remove the incentives.” Tying organ donation to reducing prison sentences is still wildly dystopian, especially considering how America’s incarceration system already operates largely on unpaid labor done by those incarcerated. The treatment of inmates at prisons and jails across the country varies as widely as does their funding, leaving some establishments underfunded and understaffed while others are adequately managed and staff are paid well. 

Currently, incarcerated people are allowed to donate organs to immediate family members, according to The Guardian citing the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. They also mention that no state currently allows organ donation from executed prisoners even if they were registered donors. Which is odd, because if the person was registered that means they consented while living to have their organs donated. While it is comforting to know that Gonzalez is planning to fix the troubling language of Bill HD.3822, this incident begs us to pause for a moment to think about the group of people in this country who have less rights than practically everyone else. They cannot vote and many have missed out on decades of life leaving them helpless in our new digital world. Offering a reduction of 60 days to a year from a sentence in exchange for an organ or bone marrow sounds like something taken directly out of  “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, or “ A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess. Each day we seem to creep closer to the edges of the realities created within these frightening novels.

Then, as if the criminal justice system is not overwhelmed enough, the offense levels by inmates would have to be taken into consideration. We would have to figure out if serious offenders would be allowed to cash-in on reducing their sentences. For example, if someone who was a tier 3 sex offender donated an organ and had a life sentence, there would be the question of whether the reduction should move forward. If prisoners want to donate organs to save family members, that is perfectly understandable and they deserve to be well-informed and taken care of every step of the way. But very quickly, as sentence reduction is entwined, the incarcerated population is at risk of becoming exploited further than they already are. 

It is important that we do not leave out the incarcerated population out of the conversations involving bodies and ethics as of late. Hopefully, Gonzalez will continue to be open with advocacy groups so that prisoners do not have to consider organ donation in exchange for a fraction of freedom. Instead, reform and improvement should be geared towards rehabilitation and education given to inmates.

Photo by Eduardo Romero via  Pexels