Forum Overview :: Peter Molyneux's The Movies :: China to stop using organs from executed prisoners for transplants

[quote name="Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS)"]<i>BBC World Service</i> has reported that Mainland China has announced a 5-year plan to stop using organs in transplantation that have been harvested from deceased prisoners after their execution. Currently, about 2/3 of the despirately needed organ supply for transplants in China comes from prisoners who have been executed. As with basically every country, there is a tremendous shortage of available organs for transplant. The country, which basically has zero respect for human rights, claims that the prisoners do give consent (presumably <i>before</i> they are executed) and thus their rights are protected. China plans to switch over the next five years to a registry of some kind. Chinese custom is to not allow organ removal from dead people and prefer the body be buried intact. I remember how someone pointed out the simplest answer to the problem, at least here in the United States, is to stop having an "organ donor" notice on our drivers' license / id card, and instead switch to a "donor refused" notice, that you are automatically presumed to agree to organ donation once you die <i>unless</i> you declare you do not want to have your organs donated. I read a short story where if you chose not to donate your organs, they gave you a necklace to wear or a medallion to carry on you, otherwise if you died without it you consented to donate your organs. So of course it tells the story of a guy who forgot to carry his medallion and was hit by a car and killed, so (despite the cries of a friend who knew of his wishes), since he was not carrying his medallion, he consented to organ donation. How do you feel about organ donation and should the choice to donate be opt in, or should the refusal to donate be opt in? [/quote]