The former Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach (SPD), believes that the current bid to implement an opt-out system for organ donation offers better prospects than it did back in 2020. Lauterbach told the regional newspaper, “Rheinische Post”, that he is more optimistic now that the opt-out solution might achieve a majority. He noted that a sense of reason has increasingly gained traction even among colleagues in the Union party. Regarding the far-right AfD, he stated that while they might frame the debate as an opportunity to “unsettle the population and spread conspiracy theories,” the democratic parties would remain unaffected by such attempts.
Lauterbach strongly advocated for the rapid introduction of the opt-out system. He argued that there is no real chance of improving organ donation prospects without adopting this measure. Although significant efforts are currently underway in hospitals, where staff aggressively fight to secure every available organ under the existing laws, many people on the waiting list remain without realistic hope unless the opt-out change is adopted.
Lauterbach issued a warning: if action is not taken now, society will find itself back in this same situation in just a few years, only this time far more people will have passed away whom they could have rescued. For him, the opt-out system represents a “mandate of reason.”
The Health Committee of the Bundestag is scheduled to discuss a potential reform of the organ donation laws this Wednesday.
