Automatically a donor
I am a registered organ donor in the U.S. It says so on my driver’s license. I chose to be a donor; the “default” is not to be a donor. I favor cadaver organ donations and I “opted in” to be in the donor pool.
According to an Israel HaYom article ( http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=10055)
”New draft legislation would let Israeli doctors recover the organs of deceased Israelis even without their explicit consent, Israeli Health Minister Yael German announced on Sunday.
“German would like to transform the current opt-in system, where Israelis have to make an express wish to donate their organs upon death, into an opt-out system, in which all adults would be presumed to have granted permission to harvest their organs unless they actively choose to be taken out of the donor pool.”
In order not to be an organ donor, an Israeli would have to “opt out” when he or she renews her driver’s license.
Currently, the National Transplant Center claims, only in half of all cases where a patient was declared brain dead did the family donate the organs of their loved one. Brain death – absence of all brain activity - is the only religiously acceptable proof of a person’s demise.
Two questions arise for me.
One – What about all the Israelis who don’t drive and, therefore, lack a driver’s license?
Two – Even though Israel HaYom contends that The system is modeled on other countries' organ donation mechanisms in which all citizens are automatically added to the donor registry at a certain point in their lives, the automatic inclusion in the donor program eventually will cause grief to some families who “didn’t get the word” (that their loved one could have elected not to participate) and will burden the courts with next of kin making the “he/she wasn’t told there was an opt out option.”
Is there any guarantee that the person applying for a license will be asked “Do you want to opt out and not be a donor?” Will a heloni ask a haredi? What about language; an ulpan does not a Hebrew speaker make (although it certainly is a good beginning).
An aside: When I was taking my physical for Tzhal a guy in front of me stepped before the Xray plate. The nurse told the fellow “לנשום”. He didn’t respond. The nurse told him again – “!לנשום” – and the guy, whose hearing was OK, still didn’t do as he was told. Finally, as she told him for the third time, I pantomimed what she wanted; he breathed, she got her picture, and everyone was less or more happy. I don’t know if he had the benefit of an ulpan or if he lived in a sequestered neighborhood with people of the same language (as many Moroccans do in Bet Shean), but “לנשום” meant nothing to him. (When I was told to give a “uhr-in” sample I didn’t have a clue; the nurse should have told me “שתן” – in the end she said “pee-pee.” I did have the advantage of an ulpan and a good dictionary.
Many of the haredim who follow only their own rabbis reject “brain death” as a means to determine death, and others, who will accept transplants, reject organ donation on the grounds that all parts of the body must be buried together.
It seems to me that a continuation of the current opt IN option is the better choice; it works in the U.S.
Planning a long flight? Take heed.
Flying to TLV? Did you make your reservations via an on-line service? Take the following advice to heart. CALL THE AIRLINE AT LEAST 72 HOURS (3 days) BEFORE THE DEPARTURE DAY to assure you have kosher meals and the seat location you ordered online. We have a situation where the airline and the booking service are pointing their fingers at each other saying “It’s not our fault you didn’t get your meal and it’s not our fault that you were stuck in a middle seat instead of the window you online.
