- Organ donation: Minister of Health High for resolution of objection
Rhineland-Palatinate's Health Minister, Clemens Hoch, has urged Members of the German Bundestag to vote in favor of presumed consent for organ donations. "This is the unique opportunity to decide differently than in 2020," said the SPD politician in an interview with the German Press Agency in Mainz. "This would be a significant milestone."
"Organ donation is the only area where we willingly accept triage," said Hoch. "People aren't getting what they urgently need because we don't have enough organs." Triage refers to treatment based on urgency. A donor can potentially save up to three lives, said Hoch. For example, a liver can be split and help multiple people. On average, a donor helps three patients with different organs, according to a spokesperson for the German Foundation for Organ Transplantation.
Cross-party initiatives are pushing for presumed consent
Currently, organ removal in Germany is only permitted with explicit consent. In some other countries, however, presumed consent applies: organ removal after death is permitted unless explicitly refused during one's lifetime.
An initial attempt to introduce presumed consent failed in the Bundestag in 2020. In the ongoing debate about increasing life-saving organ donations, several Bundestag members presented a new cross-party initiative for the introduction of a presumed consent regulation in June.
The Bundesrat, in its last session before the summer break, called for a change in organ donation regulations to enable more transplants. The chamber of states decided to submit a bill for the introduction of presumed consent to the Bundestag, where a similar initiative by a cross-party group of members is already underway. Among the supporters of presumed consent is Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who donated a kidney to his wife.
The Federal Parliament is currently considering a cross-party initiative to introduce presumed consent for organ donations, following the failure of an attempt in 2020. Rhineland-Palatinate's Health Minister, Clemens Hoch, advocates for this change, stating that it would be a significant milestone for organ donations.
