HOTA

The recent amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act resulted in an uproar in Singapore, with the major change being that unless one opted out of this scheme, once declared “brain-dead”, his organs would be harvested to give others. I have been thinking this issue over, and while it appears at the surface that this seems like a “win-win” situation, that one can do a good deed with organs no longer needed, and lives be saved, looking deeper into this issue reveals certain problems that are not obvious at first.

Firstly is the issue of ignorance. Not everybody in Singapore is literate, and among the literate, not everybody is well-informed. What if somebody is personally giving up his organs while he is still living, but is not aware of the amendment to this Act? Would not it be a terrible injustice to violate his rights as a human being? True, he is ignorant, but that is no reason to take away his organs. This could be as stupid as the government making a 100% tax policy, and you will get the normal tax rate only if you opt out of this scheme. Why make this scheme in the first place, where it would only inconvenience people who are well-informed, and do a grave injustice to people who are more ignorant?

Singapore has not done enough to make her citizens aware of the amendments to this Human Organs Transport Act, almost as if she is hoping to keep it silent. Perhaps keeping silent after drafting this Act is easier than launching campaigns to educate people about the merits of donating their organs after they are brain-dead or dead. Furthermore, why are the organs belonging to the state in the first place? Should not it be the right of the deceased or the “brain-deceased” family to decide if the organs should go to the state, or for other purposes. After these organs are harvested, what type of person does the family have to bury or cremate? An person without kidneys, livers, hearts and corneas?  Surely, this is too harsh a price for simply being ignorant. If people are ignorant, it is the duty of the state to educate them about this, and let the family and the person himself make the choice whether to sign the form, and not to OPT OUT of the form.

Also, what if the person certified “brain-dead” could eventually wake up at some point later on? While the chance is slim, it would be worth the long wait to the family. Without his organs, he is definitely and 100% dead. Miracles do happen and it is not uncommon for people in comas to wake up later on in their life. Doctors can never be truly sure that somebody is “brain-dead” and that he is ripe for harvesting. Foregoing consent and harvesting somebody’s organs is as good as foregoing consent and raping him, or foregoing consent and murdering him. Well the state may have the right to our property; it should not and will not have the rights to the body and organs of us citizens. We should have a right in deciding whether we want to keep our organs to accompany us into the ground or the flames. True, it may be selfish but it is for us to decide, and not the state.

The solution to this problem is probably to take the easiest and most effective way out. The scheme should be to let people “sign up” to donate their organs, based on their own goodwill and kindness, and not to let them “not sign out”, based on their ignorance. If the government truly wants people to donate their organs, they should step up on campaigns to inform Singaporeans about the merits of doing so, and not by resorting to such schemes.