Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Forbade Heart Transplants because it was murder of the donor

The article below  about an attempt at cutting out a heart from a very much alive donor is quite horrifying. The Halachic argument advanced by some, in favor of heart transplants, is that the secular version of "Brain death" is akin to a case in the Talmud of decapitation. Decapitation = Death, Brain death = decapitation,Brain death = Death. Rabbi Feinstein however  published several lengthy responsa in which he concluded that Brain Death was not death and that taking out the heart from someone who was brain dead or more accurately in an irreversible coma, was akin to murder. Although there were those (such as his Son In Law Rabbi Moshe Dovid Tendler) who claimed that Rabbi Feinstein eventually changed his  mind and decided that Brain Death = Death, Other Rabbis vehemently claimed  that this was not the case and accused Rabbi Tendler of fabricating the retraction.     

Ultimately what guides many medical decisions nowadays in end of life care is the lack of adequately valuing human life in in this world. Our current societal ethos is that someone in an irreversible coma has no quality of life and therefore it is merciful to hasten their death. This is based on an atheistic world view that does not consider the soul or the after life. When adding Soul and Afterlife to the equation the emergent reality as that the time the soul spends in this world is invaluable even if the body is no longer functioning at full capacity. Hence it is not merciful to hasten someones death, rather it is cruel.

In any event the debate about Halacha and Brain Death certainly does not permit the fraudulent declaration of Brain Death. I have heard from people in the funeral business that the pressure to prematurely pull the plug is not uncommon. So great are the economic demands of the organ transplant industry that even overt murder has become acceptable.  

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/10/27/kentucky-man-organ-donation/75879756007//