Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, has asked the Welsh Government for an urgent statement on the implementation of its organ donation legislation because people want to know how to opt out of the process.
Mr George made the request following a statement made by the Minister for Government Business, Lesley Griffiths AM (15 October 2013) regarding the future scheduling of government business. He said that the Government needed to consider bringing forward an urgent statement on how it was implementing its Human Transplantation legislation because members of the Welsh public were worried about its implications.
The Human Transplantation (Wales) Act was passed by the National Assembly on 2nd July 2013 and was given Royal Assent by the Queen on 10th September 2013.
The AM told the Minister that the majority of constituents who had contacted him over recent months wanted to know how they could opt-out of the donation process because they felt it was a violation of their privacy and personal will.
During the statement, Mr George said:
“Many constituents have contacted me over the summer with strong views and all deeply worried about how this new law will be implemented and how they will be affected.
“One lady told me she thought the law was an ‘invasion’ and ‘violation’ of the privacy of her body; another gentleman said it was tantamount to ‘organ theft.’
“In all of these cases, what they want to know was when would be the earliest opportunity that they could opt-out of the process and how they go about doing that.
“I’m quite sure the people of Montgomeryshire will not be alone in wanting to know this information and I believe the Welsh public have a right to be kept informed of progress.”
The Minister responded by saying that that the Welsh Government would be carrying out an awareness campaign but confirmed that Welsh residents could opt-out from 1 December 2015.
