Lawmakers Pushing for ‘Presumed Consent’ in Organ Donations

[JI7]

there is no good reason why someone would oppose organ donation apart from those who are already not allowed for health reasons.

but for those whose organs would be ok to donate, why oppose it ?


<New York assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) wants to introduce a bill that would enable his state to be the first in the nation to have ‘presumed consent’ laws on the books regarding organ donation. Brodsky, whose daughter is alive thanks to two kidney transplants, argues that such a measure would address the growing need for healthy organs among sick Americans.

“If he succeeds, distraught families would no longer be able to override their loved ones’ decisions to donate upon their death,” Michael Gormley, of The Associated Press, writes on April 27. “And eventually, hospitals would be able to assume the deceased consented to have his or her organs harvested, unless the person refused in writing.”

Currently, states have policies in place that allow individuals to indicate their desire to give anatomical gifts upon death typically through checking a box on their application for driver’s licenses. Opting for laws of ‘presumed consent’ will mean that instead of going the extra hurdle to indicate their desire to donate, individuals will now have to submit a claim in writing expressing their desire not to become a donor.

Healy also contends that when presumed consent is cited as successful in other countries, namely Italy and Spain, it’s due to effective management and voluntarily participation in donation, rather than legal rulings. It’s especially misleading, he argues, because Spain still allows for next-of-kin veto power. In other words, if the living relatives of a dead or dying person fight hard enough, they can successfully invalidate an individual’s expressed wishes to donate their organs.

It’s this power that Brodsky and his supporters are hoping to successfully nullify. Troubling medical statistics seem to be in their favor. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, over 100,000 patients are currently waiting for organ transplants, and it’s a sobering reality that the majority die before they get anywhere near the top of the transplant list. And while the demand for organs has steadily increased, supply has gone down. Nearly 90 percent of Americans support organ donation but nationwide, only 38 percent are registered as donors.>

http://www.globalshift.org/2010/05/new-york-lawmakers-pushing-for-presumed-consent-in-organ-donations/

[MilesColtrane]

1. You shouldn't have to opt out to keep parts of your dead body intact.

I'm a donor, and I know how very great the need for organs to help sick people is, but bodily integrity (even your dead body) seems to me to be a basic human right.

[JI7]

2. i just don't get the "bodily integrity" thing

you know what happens to dead bodies ? they don't stay intact. how is donating in any way offensive.

[MilesColtrane]

3. Donating it not offensive, with the donor's consent.

Most people end up dying in a hospital hooked up to machines and tubes.

Often the only control they have over their situation is what happens to their remains.

[MN TN]

4. You must still be alive before they take your body parts.

So what if someone is tempted to take your organs even though you arn't really terminal?