Health - Federal Council proposes organ donation reform
The Bundesrat advocates for a change in organ donation regulations to enable more transplantations. The Land Chamber passed a resolution to introduce a consent resolution in the Bundestag. According to this proposal, all individuals in Germany with a registered address would be considered organ donors after death, unless there is a declared objection or an opposing will of the deceased. Currently, organ retrieval is only permitted with explicit consent.
In the Bundestag itself, a cross-party group of MPs had recently submitted a bill to make another attempt at a consent resolution before the Bundestag election in 2025. This proposal is also supported by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) as an MP. An earlier attempt at a consent resolution failed in parliament in 2020.
8400 people are on the waiting list
The Bundesrat's initiative was inspired by Nordrhein-Westfalen and supported by eight other states. According to the Basic Law, the Bundesrat can also submit legislative proposals to the Bundestag. They are introduced to parliament by the federal government. The Bundestag then has to deliberate and pass a resolution within a reasonable timeframe.
More organs such as kidneys, livers, or hearts are needed urgently for seriously ill patients for years. In the previous year, 965 people donated an organ or several organs after their death, as determined by the coordinating German Organ Transplantation Foundation. At the same time, however, 8400 people were on the waiting list. For donations to even be considered, the two independent doctors must determine the brain death of the deceased.
- The cross-party group of MPs in the Bundestag, including Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, is pushing for a consent resolution to increase the number of organ transplantations before the upcoming election in 2025.
- If the proposal is passed in the Bundestag, all individuals with a registered address in Germany would become organ donors after death, unless they have explicitly declined or have a contrary will, a shift from the current requirement of explicit consent.
- Currently, despite the 8400 individuals on the waiting list in Germany, only 965 organ donations were performed in the previous year, highlighting the urgency for more organ donations.
- The Bundestag must deliberate and pass a resolution on the Bundesrat's legislative proposal regarding organ donation regulations in a reasonable timeframe, as per the Basic Law's provisions.
