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Argentina Makes Organ Donation Mandatory

How would you feel if you, by law, had to donate your organs when you passed away? Would you mind? Would you want to? In some countries, the choice to do what you will with your body after you die is not your own. This is the newest issue in Argentinian law recently.

Argentina has just passed a law requiring that initially, all citizens must be organ donors. The only way an Argentinean citizen may opt out of being an organ donor is if they strongly oppose. Prior to the new law, only citizens who volunteered to have their organs removed after death, were considered for organ donation.

While many may object a government making medical decisions for its citizens, Argentina is not alone. Austria, Spain and Belgium passed similar laws prior to Argentina. According to Vice-President Daniel Scioloi, this law means that more lives will be saved. According to medical stats, about 6,000 Argentina citizens are on an organ donor wait list.