Opt Out = Opt In
Sunday, January 20th 2008
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This is alarming. Everyone should be an organ donor, but to force such is shameful. And the ability to opt out is an inadequate solution to protect people’s right to themselves which I would argue extends past their death.
Gordon Brown has thrown his weight behind a move to allow hospitals to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent.
The proposals would mean consent for organ donation after death would be automatically presumed, unless individuals had opted out of the national register or family members objected.
While polls show 90 per cent of Britons are in favour of organ donation, 40 per cent of relatives refuse consent for the organs of their relatives to be donated, a figure which rises to 75 per cent among black and ethnic minorities. To solve this, the organ taskforce plans measures to boost donation, including putting pressure on doctors to identify patients as potential donors before they have died.
Would you support a system of reciprocation? That is, only those who are registered as organ donors are eligible to receive donated organs?
With the organ shortage in the U.S. (and apparently in other countries as well), something needs to be done. And anecdotally, I know several people who have said they wouldn’t donate organs because they find it gross or against their religion or any number of other reasons. But when asked whether they would accept organs, many see little to no problem with it (”If I was going to die, I would NEED to!”) - and seem to ignore the hypocrisy (and selfishness) in their feelings.
And the key to an opt-out system is simply that - one can choose to opt-out. Organs will not be taken against someone’s will. Without consent, perhaps, but not against their wishes.