"While it is true that, in the US, one person dies every minute due to a shortage of organs for transplantation and that the country needs to find a solution to this pressing issue, it is also essential to safeguard the rights and wishes of individuals who, while still mentally competent, have considered the sensitive question of how they wish to be cared for (or not cared for) in the final stages of their lives and how they wish their body to be disposed of. The new measures have received enthusiastic support from a large part of the US transplant community, despite bioethics experts warning of the risk that the law could turn individuals who would not have wished to do so into organ donors, force certain family members to accept decisions they do not agree with, and even encourage doctors not to administer certain medications to terminally ill patients for fear of damaging the quality of organs that would otherwise be available for harvesting and transplantation. These concerns may be exaggerated, but they are entirely legitimate. For decades, efforts have been made to close the gap between organ demand and supply, but this does not mean that we should not proceed with the utmost caution. It may seem obvious to point out a fundamental principle, but we must always bear in mind that it is not acceptable to place more value on one life than on another – in this case, on the life of a man or woman on the transplant waiting list than on the life of a person who is nearing the end of their life on an intensive care unit. We must act with caution, demonstrating that the ultimate concern is always, and only, the respect and health of citizens, at whatever stage of life they are, at whatever age, and in whatever situation."