Ecuador Congress makes organ donations automatic

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Ecuador Congress makes organ donations automatic
January 9, 2011

Ecuador's legislature has passed a bill that makes organ donations for transplant automatic at death unless a prospective donor has specifically requested otherwise.

The measure was passed Thursday by a vote of 111 to 124.

All Ecuadorans and foreigners legally residing in Ecuador who are 18 years of age or older would automatically donate their organs, tissue and human cells after death unless they indicate otherwise on their identity documents.

Those who choose not to become donors will not be discriminated against and their decision cannot be publicized, according to the bill.

Read more: http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=555079&ChannelId=19

[Ilsa]

1. Sounds like a pretty good law on it's surface, as long

as the family still gets to "pull the plug" and agree that a case is hopeless.

[Delphinus]

2. You know,

I'm an organ donor, but this does not sit well with me. It's *MY* body - not theirs. Yes, I know they say people can opt out and won't be discriminated against, but the way governments can step in and make this a law turns human beings into farm-raised animals - almost like how we raise beef, pork, chickens, turkeys, etc.

[kirby]

5. It sounds simple to me...

they changed it from an Opt-In to Opt-Out system, big whoop.

[Codeine]

6. It ceases to be "your" body when you die.

There is no "you" after that -- it's just meat at that point.

[kirby]

7. I take it you support Necrophilia...

It is a logical conclusion to your statement.

[Codeine]

9. Two logical fallacies for the price of one!

False Reductio ad Absurdum and Slippery Slope in a single convenient package. Hell, even a bit of Non-Sequitur thrown in.

[christx30]

13. But you make the choice when you are

still alive, and it is still "your" body. Then that choice needs to be respected.

[Proletariatprincess]

3. sounds like a great idea to me...

I don't know why one would care what happens to the body when we are gone. We are just dead meat, afterall. Not sentimental much, am I? LOL.

[Thor_MN]

4. The only thing that worries me is who gets to decide when someone is "Dead enough."

[pam4water]

8. Hay in China you don't even have to be dead if are a type match to an Chinese official that wants

a transplant. That laws is kind of creepy. Are they going to type people and check for communicable diseases regularly too?

[David__77]

12. Source?

Where do you get these "facts" from?

[Old Troop]

10. Sounds like a pretty progressive law to me. Why shove dead

flesh into the ground when there are so many folks who need an organ?

[David__77]

11. If so, there should be a mandatory opt-in or opt-out choice upon adulthood.

That would be OK, but I do not think this policy, while aimed at the general welfare, is good unless there it is easy and clear to all how to prevent donation.

[Codeine]

14. Why should anyone be allowed to prevent donation?

I simply do not understand why that should be.

[David__77]

15. To respect people's religious beliefs, for one thing.

Just like I have no problem with Amish and Mennonite communities. Are you saying that the social good necessitates that bodies be disposed of in a particular way upon death? You want involuntary "donation?" How is that "donation" in any event?

[Codeine]

16. I don't see it as "donation,"

but as a wasted resource selfishly denied on a basis of childish belief systems. Human lives are far more important than superstition and myth, no? I feel it would most CERTAINLY serve a greater public good to make sure healthy, badly-needed organs are made available for desperately-ill individuals.

"Respecting people's religious beliefs" will never be high on my agenda.

[David__77]

18. I'm open to your argument.

My interest in protecting religious rights is mainly in the interest of social stability rather than some principle of rights.

[lunatica]

17. It will make organs more readily available so waiting for organs

won't kill as many people as it does now. Two people in Arizona died last week because Jan Brewer on Tuesday continued to reject requests for a special session to restore medical transplant coverage, despite the growing national and local attention on the state's cuts.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/12/08/20101208jan-brewer-organ-transplants.html

People like Jan Brewer should never be allowed to make that kind of decision.

[Codeine]

19. People like Jan Brewer should never be allowed to make ANY kind of decision. nt