James Harrison, whose blood donations saved >2M babies, has died

Re:James Harrison, whose blood donations saved >2M babies, h... by MrLeap on Monday March 03, 2025 @04:54PM (#43247296)

I mulled over this for a while, thought deeply about it from a lot of angles. I think the only useful heuristic for thorny issues like this is to do our best to balance compassion for self and others, and encourage others to do the same.

I can see it from a "yes" perspective and from a "no" perspective, and I can find reasons to regret saying either. Agency, autonomy and compassion are critical features of the scenarios that have the least regrets.

At the bottom of that article it indicated they've successfully recreated the antibody in a lab, I hope that saves a lot of families from suffering.

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Re:James Harrison, whose blood donations saved >2M babies, h... by quesera on Monday March 03, 2025 @05:05PM (#43247416)

I'd sign up for it.

On the list of "best options" for my vegetative body, this would rate fairly highly.

But yeah, like assisted suicide, there are people with non-aligned motives who could be incentivized to coerce a decision from weak/befuddled/old patients.

There are many decisions I'd like to make now, while of sound mind and body, that I would like to be respected when I am no longer able to make decisions for myself. The state allows some of them, but not all.

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