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It might be that the so-called supportive but apathetic part of the pro-organ donors are secret anti-donators. Unless there isn't a good enough measure in the UK to clearly represent a person's wish on the matter (unlike the U.S. where they ask you if you want to be a donor and it shows on your drivers license).

It's very easy to be vilified and demonized if you are against organ donation (from yourself). I'm going to have at least 5 people jump on me for claiming that I chose not to be an organ donor.

If there is an organ shortage though.. guilting and shaming people to have their bodies stripped and ripped through while on their deathbed is not solving the problem, obviously and clearly. Maybe look into more technology? Like robotic body parts or something like cloning? Before anyone goes "eww, cloning"? .. i think the needy would appreciate an independent solution as opposed to waiting for someone else who might die and might give their body parts away.

I don't know if I like this one.

Making people have to opt out if they don't want to in a way puts pressure on people to donate organs. It's like, they volunteer your body for organ donation and if you don't want it you have to say so. But a lot of people aren't comfortable with saying so because of the response they're bound to get, from people who think it's a horrible thing to not want to donate organs.

Also, the process for opting out could easily be corrupted so that it's vague on how to opt out, or a long and complicated process so people don't want to go through it.

And of course they could just allow a bunch of angry people to intimidate people who want to opt-out, like if you have to go somewhere to do it they could allow people to protest, saying things like "YOU GREEDY SCUMBAG" and "GIVE SOMEONE ELSE A CHANCE TO LIVE!"

Organ donation is up to the person. If someone wants to donate, the should, if someone doesn't have to, they shoudn't have to.

Still, (And I don't want to start a fight or anything, I'm just a little curious) why not? You're dead, you'll never need those organs again, and someone else does.

What Mipsy said.

Myself, I'm torn between donating organs and donating the whole body to science. Either way someone else can have it. What do I need a dead body for anyway? wink

Opt-out sucks.

A lot of religions are against "defiling" the body after death. I think many of the Middle-Eastern based religions hold these views, as well as a few Asian ones. I'm trying to look stuff up, this is only what I've heard from people...


And, personally, while I don't adhere to any specific religion, I fear post-mortum organ donations. It just feels wrong to me.

I don't trust my gov't to not screw my body up. Plus I bet we'd end up with an excess of organs. And as for your last paragraph... it already sickens me the amount of comments I've seen along the lines of "Everyone who decides to opt-out should be put on a parallel list to never receive organs". :/

I prefer opt-in and wouldn't mind seeing more promotion and knowledge about it. I have no idea how to become a donor and I'm not exactly sheltered.

Yea, exactly.. while I understand what "sense" that makes to "opt out= never receive organs", it's donation on conditional terms, not unconditional terms...which defeats the purpose of this whole "donating" idea in the first place. It's a low-blow argument, not an academic one.

So, if I were to donate my organs after death, could I decide to put conditions on it, like say, refuse to give them to fat sedentary people with poor dietary lifestyle, alcoholic people, smokers, other people who have practiced poor lifestyle decisions that have led to needing organs etc?

And, if opt-in means that a dead body no longer has rights.. (which again, makes a bit of sense)... does that mean that grave robbing is ok? After all, a dead body literally doesn't need that shiny ring on their bony finger anymore. xd But stuffing them into big fancy boxes on plots of land takes up a lot of space... precious land that living people and animals need but can't have.