Wales is to become the first UK nation to introduce a presumed consent system of organ donation.
The new law, which comes into effect in 2015, means a person’s consent to organ donation will be deemed to have been given, unless they have opted out.
Forty-three of the assembly’s 60 members voted for the bill while eight voted against and two abstained.
Health Minister Mark Drakeford, speaking after AMs voted on Tuesday, said: “This is a huge day for Wales, for devolution and, most importantly, for the 226 people in Wales waiting for an organ transplant.
“I am proud that Wales will be the first nation in the UK to take this step.
“As a society, we have shown we are prepared to take action to increase organ donation and to provide hope to those people waiting every week for a transplant.
“Family refusal is a major factor that affects the numbers of organ donations and the main reason for refusal is lack of knowledge of their loved one’s wishes.
“The family of the potential donor has a major role to play in organ donation. The aim of the Bill has always been to respect the wishes of the deceased, however, relatives or friends of long standing may object to consent being deemed based on what they know about the views of the deceased.
“When family members know that organ donation is what the deceased would have wanted they usually agree to participate in the donation process. The new law will work by clarifying people’s wishes around the issue of organ donation and, in turn, increase the rate of consent to donation.
“Today is a landmark day for Wales, and I expect the rest of the UK to be watching with great interest when the legislation is implemented in 2015.”
BMA Cymru Wales, a longtime supporter of The Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill, has welcomed its passing.
Its Secretary Dr Richard Lewis said: “I believe that this is the most important piece of legislation created in Wales since the laws of Hywel Dda.
“A few years ago, Wales were ready to lead the UK on banning smoking in public places, but we didn’t have the necessary legal powers. This time we are delighted that our National Assembly has shown the rest of the UK the way forward and fully support its implementation. We congratulate AMs for their enlightenment.
“Patients across the country will now benefit directly or indirectly benefit from this Bill.
“BMA Cymru Wales and other organisations have been campaigning tirelessly for many years to persuade politicians in Cardiff Bay that this is the right decision and address concerns about how it works. This is the culmination of years of hard work.
“We must all now work hard to ensure that the system works and that everybody understands it.”
There had been some opposition to the new law from Christian churches and Muslim and Jewish communities.
The groups had wanted a system where a family member could veto the donation.
South Wales East AM Mohammad Asghar has called on the Welsh Government to issue clear guidelines on how to opt out.
Mr Asghar voted against presumed consent for organ donation in the National Assembly last night.
He said: “Many people have expressed to me their reservations about presumed consent for organ donation in Wales and I know this is an issue which Christians and Muslims have serious concerns about.
“The Welsh Government must now issue clear guidelines on how to opt out of presumed consent so that people across Wales are fully informed about the implications of the scheme.”
The Welsh Government hopes the new law will boost the number of organ donations by 25%.
Sir
The level of debate at the Welsh Assembly recently came in for some serious criticism from David Jones MP. Secretary of State for Wales. I had some sympathy with his views, as most debates appear to lack bite and are too friendly and informal. However, after following the whole debate live on ‘Presumed Consent’ yesterday. I was extremely pleased and surprised at the quality of debate, questions, answers, amendments and how well researched many of our AMs were on this very complicated and controversial Bill.
In a debate that lasted many hours, I found that AMs from all parties had obviously done their homework and were extremely well briefed in putting forward options, amendments, responses and fine tuning the Bill before they voted overwhelming in favour of presumed consent.
This was probably the longest and most detailed debate to have taken place in the history of our senedd and proved to be a historic day for Wales and our national assembly and showed that given the right tools to do the job, it has developed enough maturity to move Wales forward and shine a light for others to follow.
Very disquieting, I am fully in favour of people being able to donate organs if they so wish. But it is not appropriate for the ‘government’ to pass a law that assumes that people wish to do so. This is a big indication of the sort of laws that would be passed if the Cardiff talking shop gets any more power.
We could look forward to a political levy whereby money is extracted from our wages to fund Plaid Cymru and Labour unless we fill in the form that says we opt out. Some people may chuckle and think I’m paranoid about this but the danger is real. I am a lifelong member of a trade union and a political levy was extracted from my contributions to fund the Labour Party. I was content with this for years, and even joined the party, but then John Smith died. This led to the ghastly public schoolboy Anthony Blair being elected as leader. Both me and a work comrade then tried for years, 1994 to 2004, to have our political levy paid to charity. We always had assurances that this would be done but it never was.
Your body will receive the same lack of consideration in my view. Although you may not wish your organs to be torn out after your death they will be. You may have spent ten years filling in forms to try and prevent this but the political class will simply ignore your wishes and follow the course they have decided upon.
If Alan Pritchard can copy his letter to the Western Mail so can I
I have always considered myself to be a liberal, (with a small) "l", open minded peson, but I cannot beleive the decision of the Welsh Government over organ donation. I do not think that any Government can assume that "presumed consent" for organ donation to be the correct attitude in this delicate matter. The state does not own my body, and, to suggest otherwise, reeks of Fascism, a word I do not use lightly. So in this matter, in my case, there is no presumed content.
This is very bad law, a function of Labour Party Control Freakery, they will come to regret it. What next, harvesting organs from healthy "presumed donors"?.