ONE of Wales’ most senior figures in the Catholic Church has condemned Welsh Government plans to introduce a “presumed consent” policy on organ donation.
Archbishop of Cardiff George Stack has warned that “our bodies are not an asset of the state”.
His attack on the proposals from the Labour Welsh Government follow similar opposition by Anglican Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan.
The Catholic leader said this was an example of when there were “differing views of what constitutes the common good”.
He said: “Here in Wales in particular, I think of the current consultation on a law proposing presumed consent for the donation of organs after death. I agree with my fellow church leaders that our organs should be donated as a gift to others and not as a duty. Our bodies are not ‘an asset of the state’. This issue will be much in the news as the consultation draws to a conclusion in January. The dignity of the human person demands that our autonomy be respected in this profoundly important area.”
The intervention is likely to raise tensions in the debate over the best way to drive up donations.
In September, Dr Morgan said: “Giving organs is the most generous act of self-giving imaginable, but it has to be a choice that is freely embraced, not something the state assumes.
“Put more crudely, it can turn volunteers into conscripts.”
Last year, Newport West Labour MP Paul Flynn called for the debate to go beyond “prattling prelates and procrastinating politicians” and focus on meeting the needs of thousands of people who require organ donations.
However, Conservative Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies has argued that international evidence shows that introducing presumed consent is not the best way of increasing the numbers of donors.
The group Patient Concern has warned that under the proposed system “everyone would be turned into conscripts or conscientious objectors”.
However, the plans are backed by the Kidney Wales Foundation which argues that Wales has the opportunity to take the lead in the UK and significantly drive up the donation rate.
The British Medical Association has also given strong backing to the proposals and expects lives would be saved as a result.
The NHS Blood and Transplant service argues that while more than 90% of people support organ donation only 30% have signed up.
Health Minister Lesley Griffiths and First Minister Carwyn Jones have said an opt-out system will help to end the tragedy of patients dying while waiting for a transplant.
In November the findings of a study published by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine – one of the world’s leading medical institutions – concluded that an opt-out system was not the best way of solving the shortage of donors in the United States and raised “sticky” ethical issues.
Dorry L Segev, who led the research, said: “Opt-out is not the magic bullet; it will not be the magic answer we have been looking for.
“With opt-out the perception becomes, ‘We will take your organs unless you take the time to fill out a form’. That’s a dangerous perception to have. We only want to use donated organs from people who intended to donate.”
His team studied 13 European nations with presumed consent legislation and concluded: “It does not appear that by simply having presumed consent legislation on the books that donation rates will rise.”