Forcing Prisoners to Pay for Their Freedom with Their Internal Organs -- Is This America??

I'm sorry, but this entire situation is beyond ridiculous.  The penalty given to the Scott sisters for armed robbery of $11 was way too harsh -- double life sentences -- and they should be released now, after having served 16 years.  Can we all agree on that? 

Of course we know that organ donation from a living donor is a good thing, because the Catholic Church strongly opposed it when it was first introduced, calling it "desecration of the body."  So obviously it is the right thing to do -- as long as the donor does so entirely voluntarily and willingly, that is.  The best way to determine the morality of ANY action is to find out where the Catholic Church stands on the issue, and do the exact opposite.  But offering to let a person out of the cage they are being kept in on the condition that they give up one or more of their internal organs is completely barbaric. 

The only reason anyone (in the Governor's office, at least) is even discussing releasing the Scott sisters at all is because Haley Barbour, the Governor of the State of Mississippi, where they are incarcerated, is a racist bigot who recently went on t.v. touting the benefits of the KKK or some such nonsense (okay, really it was the "White Citizens Council," but a rose by any other name...). 

So now, in order to show that he's not really a racist (or that he can talk out of both sides of his mouth or that he's a lying hypocrite or something like that), he has hatched this plan to release these women (did I mention that they are black?).  But he can't look like he's being soft on crime or something, so he has to pretend he's doing it so that the State of Mississippi can stop paying for dialysis treatments for Jamie Scott by forcing Gladys Scott to donate a kidney and releasing them both so the federal government can pay for their medical treatment instead of Mississippi.  I couldn't even make this stuff up.

All in all, this entire freedom-for-organs deal cheapens human life, is shocking to the conscience, and is or should be totally illegal.  Shame on the racist Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, who is -- surprise, surprise! -- widely considered to be a likely candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2012. 

It may be a new year, folks, but nothing has changed.  *le sigh*

ABC News coverage of the ethical and legal problems involved