Opt-Out Organ Donation For New York?

The New York Assembly is considering a bill that would require residents to opt-out of organ donation. Under the bill, all adults in the state would be enrolled as potential organ donors unless they specifically choose to decline.

New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky nearly lost his daughter, Willie, at 4 years old when she needed a kidney transplant, and again 10 years later when her second kidney failed. "We have 10,000 New Yorkers on the list today waiting for organs. We import half the organs we transplant. It is an unacceptable failed system," Brodsky said. To fix that, Brodsky introduced a new bill in Albany that would enroll all New Yorkers as an organ donor, unless they actually opt out of organ donation. It would be the first law of its kind in the United States. "Overseas, 24 nations have it. Israel has it. Others have it. And it works without a lot of controversy," Brodsky said.

Nine out of ten polled New Yorkers say they would donate their organs, but only one in ten has signed up. I can't wait to hear what the teabaggers say about this. The gub'mint is a'comin' fer yer liver! Mandatory harvesting!