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Berlin – In the fight for more life-saving organ donations, more proposals are being discussed. FDP legal expert Katrin Helling-Plahr suggested expanding the possibilities during the donors’ lifetime. She welcomed a bill presented by the Federal Cabinet.
However, partial restrictions on kidney donations alone are incomprehensible, she said. “The Transplant Act already allows the transfer of other organs, such as parts of the liver, lungs, intestines or pancreas, between relatives.”
According to legal plans, kidney donations should also be allowed between two different couples in the future.
If this is not medically possible between donation pairs (donor/recipient), the kidney must not only go to the intended close person, but also “crosswise” to a suitable recipient who is also not compatible with the intended close donor. In return, the donor kidney from the other couple then goes to the recipient from the first couple.
Helling-Plahr said: “It is not clear why cross-donations should now only be legally permitted for kidneys.” Therefore, the usefulness and practicality of such a restriction will have to be discussed in discussions in the Bundestag.
The MP also welcomed the proposed possibility of altruistic kidney donations without the recipient’s knowledge. The FDP parliamentary group has long called for better use of the potential of altruistic living donation in order to help affected people who are urgently waiting for an organ.
Another topic in the Bundestag is the reform of the rules for organ donation after death. A group of MPs has tabled a cross-party initiative that aims to introduce an opposition regulation into law. This means that everyone must initially be considered a donor – unless they object.
German medical journal printout
aerzteblatt.de
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks out in favor of a contradictory solution to organ donation – and tells a personal story together with his wife.
It is “a contradiction that we reject the contradictory solution in our own country and at the same time happily accept the bodies of other countries. We see ourselves as responsible citizens, and that is why we can demand that we make a decision,” Steinmeier told the magazine. Colorful in a joint interview with his wife Elke Büdenbender.
So far, people in Germany have not been sufficiently convinced to speak out for or against organ donation, said the Federal President. At the same time, the Eurotransplant network benefits from the significantly greater willingness to donate in other European countries.
There is no need to force anyone to donate organs after death. “It is voluntary and must remain voluntary.” However, many people die every year “who would not have to die if organs were available,” Steinmeier said. Currently, organ removal is only permitted with express consent. A first attempt to find a solution to the objection failed in the Bundestag in 2020. © dpa/aerzteblatt.de