Consider the following scenario.
A hospital has several patients on their waiting list (article on worldwide kidney organ shortage) who will die if they don’t receive organ donations. Canada (read article for details) has a organ shortage like all others nations of the world. Some need replacement kidneys, others need a replacement heart, and others need new lungs. Today, supplies of these organs are in very short supply. There is, however, a way to get these much needed organs, and that is to harvest organs from deceased patients without explicit consent. (This article gives the details to proposed legislation in U.K.). Currently , in Canada, people have to sign a donor card and then the family must also agree before organs or tissue can be harvested. The hospital argues that the number of families offended by harvesting organs from a dead relative is a small price to pay when compared to the number of lives that can be saved by following such as practice. Should hospitals be allowed to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent? Here is another interesting proposal. Ontario has proposed withholding drivers license if donor cards are not signed. (See MPP for details)
Answer the question from an utilitarianist perspective. Then answer the question from an altruist perspective. Be sure to clearly show the difference between the two points of view.