The Scottish government is planning to introduce a new system of organ donation, which is opposed by the Orthodox Jewish community.
It proposes switching to an “opt-out” system where a person’s organs may be used for transplant after death unless they had previously indicated their disapproval — rather than the current “opt-in” system.
Aileen Campbell, Scotland’s public health minister, said: “Moving to an opt-out system of organ and tissue donation will be part of the long-term culture change in attitudes to encourage people to support donation”.
But the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, in a response to a consultation earlier this year, said it “remained to be convinced” opt-out would increase the number of donors.
According to Scojec, “the Orthodox Jewish community is concerned that an opt-out system would unnecessarily limit the number of donors, since some people who did not in principle object to donating their organs would inevitably opt out of such a system from a fear that it risked contravening Jewish religious law”.
While Reform was leaning towards support for opt-out, it had no official position agreed among its rabbis, Scojec said.
The Liberal community, however, was “strongly in favour” of opt-out.
Wales was the first country in the UK to move to opt-out in December 2015.
Scojec has called for delay in legislation until there was evidence from Wales and elsewhere that opt-out had resulted in more donors.
“The majority preference is to retain the current system, not least because of the success with which it has recruited more potential donors than have other regions of the UK and many parts of Europe,” Scojec said.
Earlier this month, the rabbi of one of Britain’s largest congregations, Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence of Finchley Synagogue, told the BBC programme, Sunday Morning Live, it was not the state’s role to make personal decisions such as those relating to organ donations.
But he made clear: “I think people should be donors and I think they should choose to be donors. I had the discussion with my family when I became convinced of that.”
