Gordon Brown Backs Off Presumed Consent for Organ Donation

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.

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.

Education is good. Coercion is bad. Brown made the right decision.