Our driver's license is filled, then it means that you may one day be saving the lives of up to eight people through organ donation and enhancing the lives of up to 50 people through tissue donation, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles Web site.
When you think about it, cadaver organ donation is the ultimate form of recycling.
All major religious denominations approve of organ donation and encourage it as an act of selflessness and a way to preserve human life.
On the other side of the fence, many of those who oppose organ donation seem to worry that if they were in critical condition, being listed as a donor would decrease a doctor's will to preserve their life, and that their death would instead be viewed as some kind of a sick, twisted organ harvester's heyday.
What a way to turn a lifesaving procedure into a horror flick.
Such fears are ridiculous when you take into consideration that doctors face million-
dollar lawsuits if they violate the dead donor rule, which states that doctors must never treat a patient as a donor until they are pronounced dead.
Organ donation is one of the most amazing medical procedures that we have available, but unfortunately, doctors are unable to fully take advantage of it.
Even the majority of people who have expressed wishes to be donors may never have the chance.
"It is estimated that about 35 percent of potential donors never become donors because family members refuse to give consent," according to the Congressional Kidney Caucus' Web site.
It is understandable that a family member would feel possessive and perhaps even feel a hint of denial at the time of a loved one's death, which in part explains this statistic.
However, in the wake of tragedy and the destruction of one life, wouldn't the most healing, generous and enduring action to take include giving a life saving donation to at least one needy person?
If you would like to be a donor, the best way to prevent this occurrence is to make your wishes clear to your loved ones.
No one likes to talk about the possibility of death, but it is a reality we all, one day, must face.
The most tangible chance we have at life after death is passing the gift of life on when our own time has come.
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