P.E.I. Liberal MLA hopes to move on opt-out organ donation bill this fall

MLA Gord McNeilly would like to see P.E.I. follow in the footsteps of Nova Scotia and shift to presumed consent for organ and tissue donations as early as this fall.

This week, Nova Scotia became what is thought to be the first jurisdiction in North America to move to an opt-out system. Instead of asking people whether they would like to donate organs and tissues in the event of their death, consent is assumed and people who don't want to donate will need to sign on to an opt-out registry.

Dr. Stephen Beed, medical director of the Nova Scotia Organ and Tissue donation program, said the move is among a number of changes to the system that have already increased donations.

"We saw our donation performance lagging while other provinces were getting better, so we knew that we wanted to improve things," Beed told Island Morning host Mitch Cormier Tuesday.

The province now has more donor coordinators and enhanced education for both health care professionals and the public.

Last year, Nova Scotia had a record number of organ donations. Beed credits both the changes themselves, and the conversations that happened because of the changes.

"Culture is changing. The referrals we're getting now that we didn't get before tells me that people are thinking about this," he said.

"I hope that our conversation around the new law leads to a whole bunch of people sitting around the kitchen table talking about this, getting informed, and making a decision to become a donor."

Issue before P.E.I. legislative committee

McNeilly would like to see the same conversations happening on P.E.I.

The Liberal MLA for Charlottetown-West Royalty presented a motion to the legislature in November of 2019 to have the standing committee on health, which he chairs, look at the province's rules around organ donation.

The pandemic has occupied all the committee's time in recent months, but McNeilly expects to return to the topic soon. He would like to see that discussion have the same kind of impact on the Island as it did in Nova Scotia.

"It builds awareness. It gets families talking," said McNeilly.

"There's the potential that [if] something has happened to a loved one, that the conversation's been had before."

While McNeilly would like to see the province move to an opt-out system like Nova Scotia's, he wants the committee to look at the system as a whole and suggest improvements.

"It's going to require more funding, it's going to require more energy, but I think it's worth it in the end," he said, adding that he plans to table a private member's bill on the topic this fall. 

"People's lives are worth it in the end."

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