Presumed Consent: Over My Dead Body

Beware the arguments that begin with the whine that there are not enough organs available for donation. Not because donation is a bad thing, but because of what some people are proposing to get more organs. Hence this piece from USA Today, arguing for “presumed consent.” That is, unless you have a legal document specifically stating that you don’t wish to donate your organs, they will be taken as a matter of course. Now, add to this how we’re redefining death to harvest organs before people are dead, and we all know where this will likely go.

Opposing view on end-of-life choices: Adopt 'presumed consent'

There is a severe organ donation crisis in New York.  Ten thousand New Yorkers are on the waiting list for organs in literally a "life-and-death" waiting game. Hundreds die each year waiting for an organ that never comes.

. . .The current failed New York system requires individuals to sign up on a registry to become a donor. There is a vastly superior alternative: New York should adopt a "presumed consent" model for organ donation, a system successfully used in 24 nations, including Israel, Spain, Belgium and Austria. The largest transplant programs in New York (NY-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and NYU) all support making this change. more