從儒家的觀點省察台港兩地有關活體器官捐贈的相關規定

Critical Examination on the Regulations of Living Organ Donation in Taiwan and Hong Kong: A Confucian Perspective

2017年香港發生一起活體器官捐贈的爭議事件，引起公眾關注。一位只差三個月便滿十八歲的少女，希望捐贈其部分肝臟給她急需換肝的母親，但由於她未達法定器官捐贈的年齡而遭到拒絕。正當香港各界爭論是否應放寬活體捐贈的年齡限制之際，一位與這對母女素未謀面而已成年的年輕女士，自願把部分肝臟捐給少女的母親，讓她可以順利換肝。然而，若此事件發生在台灣，則這位女士恐無法如願，因為根據台灣「人體器官移植條例」的規定，不但捐肝者的年齡至少必須滿十八歲，而且即使是活體器官的成年捐贈者，也只能將其器官捐贈給五親等以內的血親或配偶。本文的目的，即從儒家的觀點，以及通過與世界各國類似案例的比較，以檢視台港兩地有關活體器官捐贈規定的合理性問題。

In 2017, a controversial incident of living organ donation in Hong Kong attracted public concern. A girl who turned 18 years old after three months hoped to donate part of her liver to her mother who urgently needed a liver transplant, but she was refused because she was under the age of legal organ donation. As people in Hong Kong were debating whether the age limit for live donation should be relaxed, an adult young woman who had never met with that mother and daughter voluntarily donated part of her liver to the former, so that she could eventually receive a liver transplant. However, this lady would not be able to do so if this incident happened in Taiwan. According to the Human Organ Transplant Act, not only must the donor be at least 18 years old, but even adult donors (aged 20 or above) of living organs can only donate their organs to their spouse, or their blood relatives within the fifth degree. This paper aims at examining the rationality of living organ donation regulations in Taiwan and Hong Kong from the Confucian point of view and comparison with similar cases in other countries.