The UK will follow Spain in a new opt-out organ donation scheme that requires citizens to expressly opt-out of organ donation. The new law means that citizens are deemed to have given consent unless they've stated otherwise.
Wales has had this scheme since 2015, and now England and Scotland will be following suit. The hope is that this will increase the amount of organs "donated", which would save more lives.
Now, here's where I have serious problems with this.
- The citizens were not allowed to vote on this matter. No one asked me if I wanted to hand my organs over.
- It wasn't well publicised, which means most people in the UK have no idea that this law will be passed, and that they have to opt-out. This, I believe, is what the country is counting on, the ignorance of its citizens.
- People who want to donate their organs know exactly how to do it, and do so. We should assume that those who haven't registered as donors don't want to donate.
- The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that we're about to see an increase in fatal "accidents", if you know what I mean.
- I don't like the fact that anyone should be made to jump through hoops just so they have to stop their government stealing their organs. You have to fill out a form, giving your personal details. This is NOT okay.
Contrary to how it may sound, I'm not against organ donation. Not at all. I commend anyone who does it. But it should be a choice, something that people actively choose to do, not something that is forced on them because their government conveniently forgot to tell them the law had changed.
If you're in the UK, you can opt-out here: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-to-donate/refuse-to-donate/
You can read more about the scheme here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-consultation-on-organ-donation-opt-out-system
Let me know what you guys think.
