Well, apparently the people of the United Kingdom weren’t too comfortable with their bodies being deemed organ sources unless they explicitly opted out of being a “donor.” How else explain PM Gordon Brown’s walk-back of his support for presumed consent? Good. In the alternative, the government plans an intense program of education to increase donation rates. From The Guardian story:Presumed consent for organ donation, backed by Gordon Brown at the weekend, was put on the back burner yesterday as a government taskforce unveiled measures it claimed would increase donations by 50% without it.
Education is good. Coercion is bad. Brown made the right decision.
The Organ Donation Taskforce, whose report was immediately accepted in full by the government, wants a body set up to promote donation throughout the UK instead of it being a matter for individual hospitals or regions. It said the move, for which the government pledged £11m, would transform organ donation and boost transplants by 1,200 a year.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
