Increasing Organ Donations in Israel

In an attempt to boost organ donation, Israel is trying a new law: In return for signing a donor card, you and your family move up in line for a transplant should one be needed.

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority population is resisting the new law, claiming that it discriminates against them.  Their Rabbis forbid organ donation, yet allow their followers to receive lifesaving organs.  Drafters of the law intended to rid the organ allocation process of this unfair free-riding. Now, those who are unwilling to donate organs won’t stand in the same line as those willing to donate.

Other countries, such as Spain, France, Austria, and Belgium, have battled the organ shortage by passing laws that presume consent; those who don’t opt out are considered donors. However, Israel is the first country to try this new law. International medical authorities are anxious to see if it increases the organ supply.

See Aron Heller, From Israel, a Radical Way to Boost Organ Donation, AP, March 14, 2010.