Albany, NY – New Yorkers getting a new driver’s license may soon have to make a choice about whether to be an organ donor.
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A bill that gained final legislative approval this week would no longer make consideration of organ donation optional. An applicant for a license or a renewal can currently ignore the question.
It now goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Under the measure called Lauren’s Law, a New Yorker would have to sign up as an organ donor, decline to enroll, or mark “skip this question.”
Senate sponsor David Carlucci (cahr-LOO’-chee), a Rockland County Democrat, says New York has lagged most other states in signing up organ donors.
Lauren Shields of Stony Brook lobbied for the bill. She was 12 when she received a heart transplant in 2009.
Great news! So many people die every year waitin for an organ
Be careful when you sign that paper – be sure to keep a copy. I once registered to vote using the Motor Voter option – and of course the lazy DMV clerk just ignored the registration – much easier for her.
Expect the same thing to happen with this – DMV clerk accuracy will determine the recording of your wishes here – do not fall for it.
An advocate for organ donation has reportedly gone to modern orthodox schools and urged students who are 18 or older to sign up for organ donation without telling them to discuss this with their parents or rav.
The large majority of poskim forbid organ donation, primarily because they do not accept “brain death” as death.
I would suggest that yeshivas whose students take driver’s ed see to it that their bochrim are made aware of this halachic issue.
I was in Maimonided hospital recently where the patient representative
INSISTED I DONATE MY ORGANS.
I told him NO!
He said “‘modern orthodox’ are doing this now, are you so old fashion?”
I told him I am as old as TORAH AT MT SINAI.
The next day I told him
“I changed my mind, my back tooth has a cavity and will be extracted next week, he can have my tooth.
TORAH AND TRADITION DOESNT CHANGE
people change tradition
Who am I to change a letter?
then again….
who are you to change?
No one can know with great certainty what the will of Hashem is. So we rely on the rebonim to help us interpret it. This, as we know if not always reliable. Anyone who ever learned gemorah knows that in 99% of halachic arguments, one great rabbi said “yes”, the other just as great rabbi said “no” and then we settled on one decision. Clearly, one of them has to be wrong, and yet they were both great scholars with great yirei shamayim.
There are many unknowns with brain death and other situations in which organs are harvested. There have been people who’se heads were cut off during a trauma, and their organs were salvaged. People can instruct their family members under what circumstances they want to be organ donors. If someone is in a car accident and he is decapitated, there is no problem with him donating his organs. If someone suffers a massive heart attack and their heart stops pumping, there is no issue with donating his kidneys, corneas and other organs.