Organ Donation Awareness

I have spent all morning searching out blogs that contain information on organ donation and transplantation. It is amazing how much information is out there and even more amazing is the number of people that write about a simple solution to getting the organs these people so desperately need. It is called "opt-out" and it is a very simple process to introduce to any country or nation, regardless of the social standing or religious ties.

Simply stated, "opt-out" is nothing more than all people within the country being organ donors unless they do not want to be, in which case they would simply "opt-out". So many people forget to tell their families that they want to be an organ donor and it is horrible how many families are put in a situation to donate their loved one's organs when the reality of that person's death is only seconds old. Why, in grief, should these people be made to make sure a difficult choice for their loved one? If the person would have conveyed their wishes to be an organ donor, then the family can just repeat the wishes instead of trying to guess what their loved on would have wanted.

If the country were to create an "opt-out" program, these families would not have to be put in the situation and the loved ones would automatically be organ donors. That is, of course, unless the loved one does not wish to be an organ donor. In that case, they simply check a box on the back of their driver's license or carry a card that states that they do not wish to be an organ donor.

Again, it is a very simple process and does not intrude any anyone's free will. This is a win-win situation as there are over 91,572 people currently on the transplant waiting list (Unos, 2005) in the United States alone! That is horrible if you take into account that when my husband was listed in 2002, there were a little over 83,000 people waiting and since then the number of people waiting has increased more than 8,000 people difference you see before you once you take into account those people that have died waiting for their transplant, those people that waited a short period of time and aren't counted in the difference, those that are waiting for multiple organ transplants, and those that are hovering on the active/inactive list because their health is just good enough to make then inactive but not cured!

So, why aren't we doing more? Why don't we create an "opt-out" program for organ donation. I can tell you why - because politicians are worried about what some people may think about them if they do something out of the box. For once, I wish they would start behaving with morals and get on the ball! People are dying and if an "opt-out" program will make it easier for people to become organ donors, while respecting their rights, then what's the problem?