Undocumented Immigrants Go On Hunger Strike For Organ Transplant

By Huffington Post Latino Voices

Undocumented immigrants who want access to organ transplants went on a hunger strike to call attention to their cause. The group of Mexican immigrants, 14 in total, set up camp outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, according to The Nation.

Forty picketers joined the 14 protestors, who haven’t eaten in a week, on Sunday.Their goal is to speak with hospital representatives but so far the request has been denied, according to The Chicago Sun Times.

“We’re asking for help,” Blanca Gomez, 23, told the Sun Times. Gomez needs a kidney transplant. “I go to dialysis three times a week. I’m not going off the hunger strike until I get on the transplant list,” she said.

The group is surviving on water and Gatorade.

Those participating in the hunger strike either need a liver or kidney transplant yet they can’t get one because they are not eligible for federal health care due to their immigration status.

“These are people who are uninsurable, and it creates an ethical dilemma of doing the right thing against the extreme cost of doing a transplant,” Dr. David Ansell, chief medical officer …

READ MORE HERE

This article was first published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.