The problem with organ transplantation is, of course, there's not enough donors to go around (Maybe people think that they'd need that kidney in the afterlife or something).
But could this be the solution: a proposed Welsh law where organ donation is the default and people have to "opt out" if they don't want their organs be transplanted.
If it goes ahead, Wales would be the UK's first country with the system.
[Health Minister Lesley Griffiths] said the lack of organs and tissues caused unnecessary deaths and suffering.
The law, planned to be in place by 2015, would require people to opt out of donating their organs when they die, rather than opting in by signing the register.
Doctors' leaders hope it will "change cultural expectations" and prompt more family discussions about donation.
It's a "soft opt-out," meaning that families would not be forced to give up their dead relatives' organs: Link
from the Mayo clinic website:
Myth: My family will be charged if I donate my organs.
Fact: The organ donor's family is never charged for donating. The family is charged for the cost of all final efforts to save your life, and those costs are sometimes misinterpreted as costs related to organ donation. Costs for organ removal go to the transplant recipient.
And as for the question "Why do I need to pay to opt out?" well you don't. You pay your contributions to the NHS through your taxes as normal you don't pay more if you opt out of organ donation.
"Why is it OK for me to be auto opt-in on organ donation, but I can't get universal health coverage to keep said organs healthy?" In the UK there is universal health coverage, funded through taxes so the poor pay less than the rich. But of course US citizens apparently don't want that sort of system.
"How did Steve Jobs get a transplant at his age and with his additional health problems?" Well if he lived in the UK he'd have been just as likely to get it as anybody else.
"So why is it OK for rich folks to use the normal folks as organ donators, while the normal folk can't depend on the rich to get universal healthcare in place?" I think you know the answer to that. The US is a state where most people didn't want a system that would present exactly what you're talking about.
Now, Texas has gone to a system where they ask if you want to be a donor, and that information is coded into the magnetic strip on the license (but I carry a donor card too, just to be sure). I used to be rather lukewarm with regard to organ donation, and then I read a book called "From Death To Dust" by Kenneth Iserson, that made me a true believer.
The most powerful weapon we have is education. People are woefully ignorant about organ donation. A friend of mine used to swear up and down that "everybody knows" that if you're an organ donor, the paramedics won't really try to save you.
I guess the bottom line is that I think an opt-out system is an excellent idea.