With the Nova Scotian government tabling a bill last week that would make everyone a de facto organ donor, activists in Quebec are wondering if such a system would work here.
Two years ago Linda Paradis received a lung transplant after finding out she had just months to live because of a rare disease. Since then, she’s become an active promoter of organ donation.
“I was three weeks away from having my last breath and I’m so thankful today,” she said. “That’s why I want to bring awareness. I want to bring people to realize that… we don’t want that happening to a loved one.”
In the Nova Scotian bill, individuals would have to indicate they don’t want to give their organs after they die. In the current Quebec system, it’s the reverse – donors have to actively sign up. But according to Transplant Quebec, changing the system has its limits.
“Presumed consent on its own is not the magic bullet that’s going to fix organ donation rates,” said Transplant Quebec spokesperson and physician Prosanto Chaudhury.
Chaudhury said in other regions where donation became automatic, there’s been backlash.
“People feel there’s a right taken away from them, the right to decide a certain autonomy over decisions for their own bodies,” he said.
He noted that even in cases where someone is a willing donor, their grieving loved ones can overrule their wishes after they die.
“It’s a difficult time for the family, whether they consent or not,” he said. “They just suffered a deep loss of a loved one, and if they had this discussion earlier, it makes the whole conversation easier.”
In Quebec, Chaudhury estimated there are roughly 400 eligible organ donors each year who die in hospital, a number he said could be substantially increased, but not necessarily through an automatic sign up system.
Chaudhury said central databases of donors and potential recipient coupled with better coordination of medical staff could significantly increase the number of successful transplants. But ultimately he said the best way to guarantee your wishes are followed after you die when it comes to donation is actively make sure you’re signed up as a donor and to discuss your decision with your family.
Paradis said that while she understands the sensitivity around the topic, people need to understand the difference they can make by becoming an organ donor.
"If naturally we tell people and bring people to the situation of you can become a hero, helping a person live through others like I received, isn't that wonderful?," she said. "The biggest miracle of human kind is to give life and it used to be only women who can give life but today with organ transplant, anyone can give life."
