Mark Seeks to Change Law on Organ Donation
Mark Griffin is to launch a fresh bid to re-introduce a Bill on an opt-out system of organ donation.
Mr Griffin, whose dad, Francis, died after waiting ten years for a heart transplant in 2007, has been a long supporter of moving to an opt-out system, similar to the current approach taken in Wales.
In the last Parliament a Bill by Anne McTaggart MSP was narrowly rejected by MSPs.
Mark said:
“People are needlessly dying because of the lack of available organs for transplant. A simple change to the current law could save these lives.
“I strongly believe that moving to a ‘soft opt-out’ system is required if we are to address the problems we have with organ donation in Scotland.
"Evidence suggests that this move could lead to an increase in donation rates of 25-30%. Taking the most recent figures, this could mean an increase of between 24 and 29 donors per year. That’s an astonishing figure that gives hope to those in need of a transplant.
“The Scottish Government said in their evidence that they wanted to wait to evaluate the impact of the Welsh legislation before they decided whether or not to implement ‘soft opt-out’.
"That evidence is now here and there is no reason to wait. I say that while people are dying, we can’t afford to wait.”
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