Bit of a random post for the beginning of a new year, but here we go.
Organ donation
I’m all for it. If, in the event of my death, medics can make use of my organs so they’ll help someone else live, I want my organs donated when I die.
So why have I just opted out of the Government’s organ donation scheme?
For as long as I can remember, organ donation in the UK has been a voluntary thing. There were several ways of choosing to donate your organs. When I was a teenager, the Post Office supplied cards (like the one pictured) that you could sign and carry with you in your wallet. When I first passed my driving test, driving licences were paper and there was a tick box on the licence that you could mark to show your preference.
I’ve always been pro-donation and my family know my own desires.
So what has changed?
Nothing yet, but the process as we know it is about to change. On the face of it, it appears to be a positive change. Here’s an excerpt from the Government’s dedicated website:
From spring 2020, organ donation in England will move to an ‘opt out’ system. You may also hear it referred to as ‘Max and Keira’s Law’.
This means that all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to be an organ donor when they die unless they have recorded a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.
You still have a choice if you want to be an organ donor or not when you die.
I understand the thinking and the desire to ensure that lives might be saved by having more “donors” available. I’ve heard the stories of families desperate for people who are dying to donate their organs to save the lives of their loved ones. The website is clear about this too:
Why is the law changing?
The law is being changed to help save and improve more lives. Every day across the UK, someone dies waiting for a transplant
This all sounds so reasonable, so why have I opted out?
My body is my body
There’s a huge moral issue here that’s not being discussed and it’s the reason I put scare quotes around the previous instance of the word ‘donor’.
As it stands, my body is mine and I can choose to donate my organs. This new law shifts ‘ownership’ of your body – even at a tacit level – to the State. However, if you do nothing, from spring 2020 your body effectively becomes the ‘property’ of HM Government to do with as they like in the event of your death. That’s what I’m unhappy about.
As I’ve already written, I’m pro-donation. I’m happy for my organs to be used to save someone else’s life. My family know this and I’m reinforcing that by making that publicly known here.
BUT, I want that to remain my decision, my choice, carried out in practice by members of my family.
I don’t want to be coerced into donation by someone else and especially not the Government. Whether or not I trust those in power isn’t the point. I may trust the current one; I may not trust the next. However, the principle of assumed and automatic opt-in for organ donation is very concerning and is, in my opinion, a dangerous step towards the Communist thinking that the people are the property of the State.
Decide positively for yourself
I’ve made my decision and you should make your own mind up. Whatever you choose to do, head over to the Government’s website and register your own decision on the matter at www.organdonation.nhs.uk. And ensure you talk about this subject with your close family so they can make decisions based on what you genuinely want to happen should you die.