**Organ donation should be _default_ rather than mandatory** Today, you have to sign up to Organ Donation. It's a hassle, and feels a little morbid. Rather than signing _up_ to it, we should flip it so that you have to sign _out_ of it, which would make organ donation the default, and still allow those with religious or moral squeamishness the possibility of opting out.

**Organ donation of course saves many lives. However, this does not mean we should take away one’s personal choice in doing so.** - In 2017 it was recorded that [over 50,000 people had been saved through organ donation and transplants.]( https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/get-involved/news/more-than-50-000-now-alive-thanks-to-organ-donations/) 4 years later I am guessing that number has continued to rise. - However, despite the benefits, this does not take away the fact that they were a result of a personal choice from such individuals. As someone who personally opted in to be an organ donor, I don’t know how comfortable I would feel doing so if this was mandatory. - Many people may choose not to do so as it contrasts with their personal/religious beliefs. - I also don’t think matters like organ donation should have state interference, it should remain within the private domain. If this is to become mandatory what is there to stop them from regulating other stuff. Will blood donations to become something we have no choice in?

**Organ donation is unbelievably important, but we must be careful about labelling such decisions as mandatory.** • The reason I am mixed on this statement, is because I think it becomes quite messy when we invoke the term ‘mandatory’. It can be difficult to engage people in an issue, once you make it compulsory that they partake. For example, both _vaccinations_ and _voting_ are two social issues which have sparked numerous debates about civil liberties and what it means to live in a democracy. Whilst I strongly support organ donation, vaccinations, and voting, I also recognise and accept the fact that I don’t have the legal power or right to enforce them. • We should do _absolutely everything_ we can to encourage people to become organ donors, have their vaccinations and exercise their democratic right to vote. But I really believe that this is as far as it should go, because I don’t know if I want to live in a society where any one person or group has _that_ much power over my existence. Although I would completely be on board with all three of these things, I don’t have the right to determine that decision for everyone else. • Regarding organ donation, as of May 2020 in England, [the law was changed to adopt an ‘opt-out’ system](https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/uk-laws/organ-donation-law-in-england/), whereby you are automatically an organ donor when you die, unless you are under 18, you have opted out, or you are in an excluded group. This basically means that unless you explicitly say you would like to be removed from the organ donor list, you will be an organ donor. In my opinion, this is the best system for a few reasons. • Having an ‘opt-out’ system is the most effective way to organise [organ donation]( https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/about-organ-donation/faq/what-is-the-opt-out-system/), _in my opinion_. This is because it filters out the problem of people who are simply ‘lazy’ or ‘uninformed’ such that they don’t know they are supposed to register. Part of the problem with the ‘opt-in’ system, was that people often didn’t know they had to register and sometimes assumed they were automatically included, which led to a reduction in donors purely because people were unaware of how it works. • I also think the ‘opt-out’ system is the most democratic way of addressing this topic, because people still have the choice if they wish, but they must actively make this decision themselves. This system isn’t a ‘mandatory’ way of getting organ donors, but instead opens up a discussion about its importance and highlights the absolute necessity for organ donation in this country.

Our bodies are useless to us after we die, and good organs go to waste when we just let them rot in a hole. How about instead of being selfish with organs that we're not going to care about after we're dead anyway, we give them to people who are still fighting for their lives so that they have a shot at living a little bit longer? And why should it be mandatory? For the best interests and well-being of the people we've left behind. You wanna leave a legacy? Start with your organs. That's the best legacy most of us poor slobs are going to be able to leave behind, anyway.