Take a moment
and answer this question:
If you needed a
transplant and were willing to accept a donor organ, how would you
feel if you never made an effort to sign your donor card and inform
your family yourself?
The bottom line
is we have a tremendous
shortage and a large (and growing) demand. The system we have in
place for educating, encouraging and procuring organs is not working and needs to be changed.
What I believe is the best solution is passing an Opting-out or
Presumed Consent law. In addition, I
feel it is only fair that if a person who refused to be a donor ends
up needing a transplant, they would be automatically placed at the
end of the list. Those who wish to receive an organ must first be
willing to give one:
Here's how the system works now:
An individual who wants to be an Organ Donor must "opt-in" - by
signing a Donor Card, checking the box on their Driver's License, or
by signing up with a State Donor Registry. When a person dies in
circumstances that might permit Organ Donation, someone from the
local Organ Procurement Organization(OPO) approaches the family
about Organ Donation. If their loved one had not discussed Organ
Donation with them, they all too often decline to give consent.
Sometimes they decline even when they know their loved one's wish
was to be a donor. Often, even in states that have "first person
consent" laws, the family is allowed to override the individual's
wishes.
Here's
how the system would work under Presumed Consent:
An individual who does not want to be an Organ Donor would have to
"opt-out" by entering their name on a National Registry maintained
by OPTN - the same organization that now keeps the National Waiting
List of transplant candidates. When a person died under
circumstances that would permit Organ Donation, a search would be
made of the Registry. If their name did not appear in the Registry,
it would be presumed they had consented to be a Donor. While the
family would be advised of this information, their consent would not
be required, and no one would be allowed to override the donation. Read
more……http://www.presumedconsent.org/index.htm
