The Wall Street Journal reports that there are now 100,000 people on waiting lists for organ donations. 6,000 will die this year, waiting. The Journal suggests modifications to current law which would make clear that the payment of certain expenses wasn’t deemed “buying” an organ. I suggest something more fundamental.
We currently have an “opt-in” organ donation policy. Your organs will not be donated unless you act affirmatively to do so. Why? Why is the presumption that each of us would withhold this life-saving gift? I suggest that we reverse this presumption and adopt an “opt-out” policy. In other words, each of us is an organ donor unless we affirmatively decline. Our driver’s licenses would have a colored dot if we were NOT donors.
The problem with the current policy is obvious. Human nature being what is, potential donors don’t think about the issue until it’s too late, resulting in the loss of thousands of viable organs. The danger of an opt-out policy is that organs might mistakenly be taken from those with religious or other objections. However, no policy is risk-free and, given that the family could object, this risk seems small, especially when weighed against the thousands of lives that would be saved.
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