PN MP Proposes Bill To Shift To ‘Opt-Out’ Approach With Organ Donation
Opposition MP Ivan Bartolo has proposed a private member’s bill that would make citizens have to specifically opt out of donating their organs after their deaths rather than the current opt-in system, and Health Minister Jo-Etienne Abela fully supports it.
This means that instead of registering as an organ donor in the event of your organ/s being viable for others after your death, your consent to donate organs would be assumed unless you had stated otherwise, i.e. opted out.
This applies to citizens aged 16 and over.
Bartolo is well-informed of the importance of organ donation, having donated a kidney to a stranger a few years ago.
Bartolo penned a piece for the Nationalist newspaper In-Nazzjon where he explained the reasoning behind his decision, maintaining that such a system change would be essential for the common good.
He brought up the tragic death of Marie Therese Pisani, whose organs benefitted the lives of 10 people.
“This was a difficult decision made by her parents Carmen and Joe Pisani. But, this couple believed in social justice, they believed in the common good.”
He even mentioned his friend, Simon Galea, who died while waiting for a kidney. Prior to his death, both Galea and Bartolo worked hard to raise awareness and implement this regulation, speaking on radio shows to spread the word about organ donation.
Bartolo went on to explain that he, as well as the party, is completely against the commercialisation of body parts, admitting that the research on this is still ongoing.
However, he said, the merits that exist when one donates an organ should certainly be encouraged as a manifestation of generous solidarity.
He further stated that organ donation is not solely an act of social responsibility. But it’s an expression of universal fraternity that connects us all together.
This idea was first proposed back in 2015 but it was discarded after a public consultation exercise that discovered that only 8% of respondents supported some form of opt-out system.
The Church opposed such a system eight years ago, arguing that such donations should remain a free decision of the donors, according to the Times of Malta.
This bill is supported by both the PN and the Health Minister who admitted to being happy to second it.
In 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne revealed in parliament that 26,929 people in Malta were registered organ donors – this was just 5% of the population at the time.
An opt-out system has already been implemented in the likes of England, France, Spain, Belgium, Croatia and Switzerland.
Do you think Malta should shift to an opt-out system with organ donation?
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