Donor consent law is being changed...

[flirtygirl]

Aibu to have expected more information before they changes the law, did they do a consultation? I feel miffed that it is now going to be deemed consent and you have to opt out.

But what if the system is down or the opt out which is digital and online, did not get stored properly? What about when you move and change address? Do you have to tell every medical practitioner manually as well?

There is no info it seems on what this will mean. If you have info or any helpful links please let me know, thanks

I would also like to see a system where you can opt to make your doctor your NOK in case of organ donation.

It would take the pressure off families at a difficult time and stop donor's wishes being overruled by overwhelmed family members.

A final act of autonomy over my body would be to give it away

I'll be opting out- it's disgusting, it is a way they can sell our organs- just like they've bee doing it with our blood!

Who sells blood?

rubyroot you're being sarcastic aren't you? 🤞

This has been in the press for years. It's just finally being put in place.
I don't have a problem with it.

@rubyroot
I'll be opting out- it's disgusting, it is a way they can sell our organs- just like they've bee doing it with our blood!

Disgusting? Saving someone's life is disgusting?

I know it's been in the news for years, I did not know about the consutalation or the fact the law is changed.

All I hear on the news is Brexit.

Anyway it is not widely publicised and when is the date thus week as reported by some news or 2020 as on the NHS website.

Bodily autonomy is above all else for me and yes people die but people die everyday. Why do people enjoy get sanctimonious about organ donation but when a homeless person freezes to death, hardly an eyebrow is raised.

I will be opting out an direct would have like to have seen more info on the law changes and the guidelines.

Can those saying they won’t donate please explain why, given you just don’t need the things once you’re dead?

And please, those of you saying you won’t accept an organ, do fuck off. Are you seriously trying to persuade us that you’d rather die? Really?

I think it’s a brilliant idea to have the opt out, it wil save lives and I cannot comprehend why anyone would rather their organs rot in the ground or be burned. It seems like obtuse stupidity or spite.

Can someone explain to me, genuinely, why bodily autonomy or consent matters once you're dead? And why that's more important than giving life to those who would otherwise die?

There's surely no concern of this becoming a slippery slope?

I'm off out and probably should have posted this, this evening as it's interesting reading all viewpoints. Back later

I have carried a donor card/had it on my Boots advantage card/registered at the DVLA etc since I was about 18. However, I am not sure I favour an opt-out system. While my body may be useless buried in the ground, it's not up the government to decide to harvest it without my consent.

What I do favour is preventing families from overruling their loved one's wishes if they had opted in.

Consent is an interesting argument. Obviously, a dead body can’t consent.
Even if you are living but cannot at the point of treatment give informed consent (think unconscious, dementia, a significant stroke etc) nobody else can consent unless they are a child’s parent or have an LPA (HW) in place or are a judge in the Court of Protection. Relatives may be consulted but they cannot consent.

Bodily autonomy can only, and legally, apply to the living.

Consent is presumed each and every day in most settings and certainly in all healthcare settings. If I roll up my sleeve and put my arm out with my elbow down it is reasonable to presume I am consenting to a blood test. I can withdraw that consent at any point but until I do, the presumption of consent is lawful.

It's not just about lives saved, it's about not being utterly selfish by allowing other people to die while your much needed organs go to waste because of some moral stance

You are now equating people who do not donate their organs to people who commit manslaughter. It is not an uncommon line of thinking but a very dangerous one and precisely why I agree with formberbabe. It is attaching obligation and morality to what should always be a gift, one's body should always be a gift and consent to using it, however morally righteous it might be, should NEVER* be presumed by anyone.

I am an organ donor, FWIW, but do not agree with opt out at all.

Who sells blood?

I think some states in America pay for blood donations.

I don’t want my ovaries taken from my body. I think organ donation is good but I am also slightly sceptical - if a person (especially an older person whose lives don’t seem to be valued as much as the younger population) was desperately ill in hospital - will there be the temptation to give up on them and tell their relatives sorry nothing more can be done so that organs can be taken to use for donation?

@U2HasTheEdge

Why is it a stupid argument? You specifically said people who opt out shouldn't be discriminated against when awarding organs because the medical system prioritises need over morals.

Having no opt out would be doing exactly that. Prioritising the needs of the living over moral obligations to the dead.

You can't have it both ways

Why do people enjoy get sanctimonious about organ donation but when a homeless person freezes to death, hardly an eyebrow is raised.

I don't think this is the same thing at all? I wouldn't happily sit back and watch a homeless person die and if I could prevent it at no cost to myself (i.e. similarly to donating organs once I don't need them any more) then of course I would.

I think it’s ok for people to opt out as long as they also sign another declaration accepting they will not be allowed a transplant.

There’s a difference between opting to gift your organs in death, and the state presuming it can harvest your organs in death.
YES! This is very dodgy ground ethically.
I WANT to choose to donate my organs. I currently have a donor card and have ticked everything. However, I do not beleive the state should decide that it owns your corpse.

Haven't there been studies that say that opt out doesn't increase organ donation anyway?

Why do people enjoy get sanctimonious about organ donation

The simple answer to this is that it's an issue of life and death, which means it's an emotive topic that a lot of people have very strong opinions on. I think your OP contained some fair questions, but other users came on and started being highly antagonistic, which gets people's backs up and the whole discussion descends into a pointless slanging match.

Far, far better someone is able to decide before they die than distraught spouses, parents or children are faced with that decision at the time of death in an emergency department.
It’s brilliant and will save or at least extend the lives and improve the quality of lives for so many more people.

I also think there could be many more ways to get people opted in.

Ask at any medical appointment, GP or dentist.

Ask all students at 6th form colleges and universities etc

Ask every time someone starts a new job

Ask every time someone flies

When people take a driving test

When they join a library

When they collect a prescription

Just a few ideas to increase uptake

And please, those of you saying you won’t accept an organ, do fuck off. Are you seriously trying to persuade us that you’d rather die? Really?

This is so for some people. People can and do decline organ transplants. It is usually someone who is further on in life and, because organ donation is no magic bullet sometimes and for some can come with very significant risk and/or serious compromise to quality of life, they elect not to do it.

I also worry about who my organs would end up being donated to for example it would sicken me to think that they were donated to a child abuser but I suppose there’s nothing you can do to prevent that from happening.

I am totally pro this change, it’s long overdue.

However I agree it’s not been that well publicised.