Organ Donation Policy Reform

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Bill 401: Organ Donation Policy Reform (Presumed Consent) “More than 114,000 people in the United States, and millions more around the globe, are waiting for the heart, kidney, or liver transplant that will save their lives.”(14 Egendorf). Many people need organs, but can’t receive the organ they need because there are not enough to go around. In the past our government has tried to put laws in place to increase the number of organ donors. One amendment was outlined as, “1990—Public 101-274, Amendment to the Organ Transplant Amendments Act of 1988, April 23, 1990—Deferred a certification requirement with respect to organ procurement organizations”(Selected statutory and regulatory history). This amendment was made to give organ donors specific…show more content…
One source claimed, “Each year, approximately 1.5 million people in China are in need of transplants”(77 Egendorf). Another amendments on this topic would be, “1998- Final Rule 963 Fed. Reg.16-296) Governing the operation of the OPTN was issued and published in the Federal Register”(Selected statutory and regulatory history). This amendment says that the government has been governing/ watching over the operation- or in other words, its achievements. Our government has been making amendments for organ donation since 1968, when they addressed their first amendment for organ donation stating, “1968—The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), A model statute, intended for adoption in every jurisdiction. This law provided the legal foundation upon which human organs and tissues can be donated for transplantation by execution of a document of gift. Deemed a person's legal consent to donate before death sufficient under the law (without an indication that the consent was no longer valid)”(Selected statutory and regulatory history). The government has worked to improve their organ donation numbers to help their those in need. All in all, the American government has tried to…show more content…
The only reason people usually register is because they feel personally compelled to; there are no legal effects of a person not registering. With our reform, it would be nationally mandated that a person be a donor unless otherwise specified. Consequently, many people who simply don't care will be helping millions by just following the law. Currently the only truly legal way for a person to register is through their local DMV (Schuster, 2013, p. 1). All local DMVs would be responsible- under the reform- to explain the changes to all citizens. They would also be responsible for filing all claims to “opt out” of the organ donation registry. All paperwork would be handled by these local organizations, but would be entered into a federal database to create a nationwide organ registry. As previously noted, citizens will have an option to withdraw from the organ registry if they have reasonable cause to. In an article reflecting on organ donation it states, “There are many reasons why people suffer end-stage organ failure and need an organ transplant and why others are not accepted as organ donors” (“Becoming a donor”). These people would be included in those who could reject the policy. Other people included would be anyone with religious complications or anyone with personal issues about the care of their body being used after death. These people will

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