APPENDIX 4: LETTER FROM BARONESS HOWARTH
TO FAITH GROUPS
You may be aware that the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee
G (Social Policy and Consumer Affairs) is conducting an inquiry
into the issues raised by the European Commission Communication:
Organ donation and transplantation—policy actions at EU
level.
The European Commission's Communication proposes
the following EU-level actions in the field of organ donation:
- The introduction of an EU Directive
on the quality and safety of organ donation and transplantation—with
the aim of providing a cross-border framework for the organisation
of organ donation and transplantation, with harmonised rules that
would provide EU citizens with higher standards for organ safety
and quality than can be assured by the national legislations of
Member States acting separately.
- The formulation of an action plan
for strengthened cooperation on organ donation and transplantation
between Member States—with the aim of sharing expertise
and expanding the size of the potential donor pool in each Member
State
While we have already received some very valuable
evidence from faith groups for our inquiry, the Sub-Committee
would like to seek further evidence, and I am writing to you now
in the hope that you will be able to help the Sub-Committee by
supplying your own or your organisation's views on some of the
important ethical issues relating to organ donation.
It is our understanding that while the majority of
the major faith groups support, in principle, organ donation,
there are particular issues which might concern some of the members
of certain of these groups. Furthermore, whilst religious leaders
have broadly offered their support for donation, we have been
informed of a substantial number of cases where individuals object
to their own or their relative's donation of organs on the basis
of their own perception of what their religion requires of them.
Against this background, I would be most grateful
if you could write to me setting out your own or your organisation's
views in response to the following questions.
Q1. Please would you describe any particular
aspects of organ donation and transplantation which are considered
ethically problematic within the context of your organisation's
religious beliefs—as these are perceived: (a) within the
UK; or (b) in other EU Member States?
Q2. Please would you explain if there is any
significant tendency for individuals from your faith group to
oppose organ donation either for themselves or for a family member
on the basis of their own interpretation of the religious teaching
of the group, rather than on the basis of how that teaching is
more generally interpreted. If so, how, if at all, do you think
this tendency might best be addressed?
Q3. To what extent would a change to a system
of presumed consent for organ donation in the UK (under which
everyone would be assumed to have consented to donate their organs
after death unless they explicitly opted-out from the system)
be ethically acceptable for your faith group?
Q4. If presumed consent were to be introduced
in the UK, what would be your views about the idea that members
of any particular groups should be assumed to be opted out as
a whole without the need for individual opt outs? (An example
of this is the case in Singapore, where Muslims are assumed to
have opted out unless they expressly opt in).
30 January 2008
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