There is so much misunderstanding and falsehoods in this thread I don't even know where to start.
There's about 120,000 people on the wait list for organs in the US alone.
It is not just a doctor's choice. People don't understand what a long and difficult process it is. I'm going to take a moment and tell you all the story of the day my dad died. My dad had a stroke, and then a brain aneurysm, and then another more massive stroke all within 24 hours. He wasn't waking up or responsive. After many scans and evaluations they informed us that at least 5mm of his brain had been destroyed in the second stroke and this wasn't taking into account the damage from the other two incidents. He was on a life support as his brain was not capable of keeping his heart beating on its own. The doctors sat us down and let us know that if he ever woke up, which there was almost no chance of, he would have absolutely no quality of life. He would not be able to walk, talk, work, feed himself, go to the bathroom on his own, or do any of the normal things you and I take for granted. They didn't think he would even be able to enjoy things anymore because of the part of his brain that had been destroyed. They told us that we could wait indefinitely and see if he would wake up or they could have another doctor come to evaluate him to declare him brain dead.
We chose the second one. AFTER we had made the decision ANOTHER social worker other than the one that had been working with us at the hospital came to speak to us to inquire if we were interested in organ donation. At no point did anyone look at my father's drivers license (we had it with us, it was not with my father) to see if he was a registered organ donor prior to this. The organ donation social worker asked my mother, my sister, and I if it is what we and he wanted. We said we thought it was what he wanted and we were prepared to honor his wishes. Then they sent in yet another person, an organ donation counselor to discuss it with us further and make sure we understood what was involved and if it is really what we wanted. Then we had to fill out and sign about a dozen different documents. The process took close to two hours.
During the process the doctor that was going to assess my father for brain death was not in the room. In fact, he wasn't even in the hospital.
One of the things most people don't know is that a dead person, someone who is flat lined and no longer has blood pumping through their veins is no longer a viable organ donor. They HAVE to keep your body alive until the organs are removed. When a person is only brain dead but still being kept alive they can donate, but no other way. This is why most people cannot be organ donors even if they are registered. This is most of the reason why there is a shortage.
Anyway, then the doctor arrived to declare my father brain dead. After the priest read him his last rites, the doctor performed a series of tests while we were in the room. He explained what he was doing the whole time. At the end of that process he left us to say goodbye to my dad. He filled out the paperwork which we got to read and declared my father dead. Then the organ donation people came one more time to discuss it with us and make sure we were still on board. AFTER that they began to test to find out which of my father's organs were usable for transplant. This required cutting him open and visually inspecting the organs as well as having some blood work done. AFTER this a massive coordination effort began. They had to contact organ transplant doctors and their patients to coordinate. My father donated 7 organs that day to 7 different people and the effort involved 13 doctors. This count does not include the doctors that had anything to do with my father's care.
What I'm trying to say here is that although I'm sure there's a case or two of organs being harvested from people who are capable of life because anything is possible, it's certainly a very rare thing.
They don't look at your driver's license and think "Well, this one is an organ donor, lets just let her die." That doesn't even make any sense. Why would they trade one life for another? They don't even know if your organs are usable. They don't even know if you can be kept alive long enough to get them. They don't have the time to think about that in an emergency anyway.
If you've managed to read this far, thanks! This is a topic that is super important to me. Seven people are alive today and countless more have better quality of life because of my dad. I am extremely proud of being able to give that gift to people. My dad is a hero in a way. Another thing people don't know is that you can donate your eyes, bones, skin and other tissues. You can even be selective about what you want to donate. You can say take my lungs but leave my heart alone, or just take one kidney and a piece of my liver on the off chance I do wake up and still need the other stuff. You can say take it all or just take my bones cause it'd be neat to be all floppy. Go to this link:
http://www.organdonor.gov/index.html, find your state, go through the process of registering even if you ultimately decide not to at least you can see what you can do, read about it, send them spam mail...whatever. If you register there you don't even have to put it on your drivers license if that makes you uncomfy.
Next up, we can talk about bone marrow donation if you want.
I have a lot of friends who have received organs. I have been through the process of donating organs. I am a Donate Life Ambassador. I have had lots of training in talking to the public about organ donation and getting people registered and dispelling myths. Really, ask me anything. But please don't look at the fear mongering media for answers. I can get a transplant recipient in here to talk about it if you want also.