Rub it better till it bleeds

[sovay]

I'm sure everyone else heard about this weeks ago, but I am behind the times:

Inmates in South Carolina could soon find that a kidney is worth 180 days.

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would let prisoners donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences.

A state Senate panel on Thursday endorsed creating an organ-and-tissue donation program for inmates. But legislators postponed debate on a measure to reduce the sentences of participating prisoners, citing concern that federal law may not allow it.

"I think it's imperative that we go all out and see what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ralph Anderson. "I would like to see us get enough donors that people are no longer dying."

Paging Mr. Niven . . .

Comments

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

A beneficent 180 days, 6 months off one's sentence for a kidney. Golly, I can't imagine any downside to this at all, can you?

This bothers me in so many ways, and not just the Larry Niven way, though that's bad enough -- I'm troubled because this is part of a general trend to mulct our ever-growing prison population.

[xterminal.livejournal.com]

"And now, our next item: convict wakes up in bathtub full of ice, with message in lipstick scrawled on mirror!"

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Paging Mr. Niven . . .

That's the size of it. This is deeply disturbing.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Paging Mr. Niven

Or Messrs Pohl and Kornbluth, who got in first with 'The Reefs of Space'.

Soylent Green = Ppl

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's something to which I can only adequately respond with an emoticon.

This one 0__o'

or perhaps :@

On the upside, PJ Harvey makes me happy. -er.

[sovay]

This one 0__o'

or perhaps :@

Yeah. I had to look up the actual bill to make sure this wasn't some kind of hoax or a reporter's overenthusiasm. Get me off this planet, please.

On the upside, PJ Harvey makes me happy. -er.

Good!

[sovay]

Or Messrs Pohl and Kornbluth, who got in first with 'The Reefs of Space'.

Pohl also originated the term "corpsicle," yes?

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

Stephen Colbert had a great bit about that a week ago. It's here (http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/the_word/index.jhtml) under the title "Pound of Flesh." He compares it to Shylock wanting a pound of flesh from Antonio in The Merchant of Venice.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Believe so, yes.

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

You're in New England; does that help? It's a large planet, and a large and decentralized country.

Out of random curiosity, I wonder what people's reactions would be to a law giving people tax deductions for donating kidneys. Is the concern the treatment or prisoners, the idea of body parts being fungible, or the idea that people who did nasty things can get out of a chunk of it by donating a kidney? (I mean, they all bother me; I'm just curious.)

[sovay]

Out of random curiosity, I wonder what people's reactions would be to a law giving people tax deductions for donating kidneys.

I wouldn't be any more comfortable with that. One's own body parts should not be bargaining materials.