A Texas inmate on death row has asked for a stay of execution so he can donate a kidney.
Per the New York Post, Ramiro Gonzales, 39, is scheduled to be put to death through lethal injection on July 13 for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 18-year-old Bridget Townsend. Her remains were not found for two years.
Gonzales' lawyers have appealed to Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday (June 29) to pause the execution by a month so he can be considered a living donor "to someone who is in urgent need of a kidney transplant",
His legal team has also asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a six-month reprieve in connection with the requested kidney donation.
Gonzales' Attorneys Thea Posel and Raoul Schonem stated that a University of Texas transplant team discovered Gonzales to be an "excellent candidate" for donation due to his rare Type-B blood type.
"Virtually all that remains is the surgery to remove Ramiro’s kidney. UTMB has confirmed that the procedure could be completed within a month," Posel and Schonemann wrote to Abbott.
They also included a letter from Cantor Michael Zoosman, a Jewish clergyman who is a prominent anti-death penalty advocate and former prison chaplain.
Zoosman reaches out to every death row inmate in America who has an active death warrant and he has now been communicating with Gonzales since January 2021.
"There has been no doubt in my mind that Ramiro’s desire to be an altruistic kidney donor is not motivated by a last-minute attempt to stop or delay his execution. I will go to my grave believing in my heart that this is something that Ramiro wants to do to help make his soul right with his God," Zoosman wrote.
While the state of Texas permits inmates to donate organs, a previous request from Gonzales was rejected earlier this year, however, an explanation from a Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman was not given. Now, his lawyers are claiming it was because his execution was imminent.
The lawyers have also asked the parole board to commute his death sentence and authorize a spiritual adviser to hold his hand and heart during the execution.
