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Organ Donation As National Service: A Proposed Federal Organ Donation Law, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is time to consider an alternative approach to organ procurement and allocation -- one that relies on presumed consent to organ donation, combined with incentives which recognize the communal basis of the obligation to donate one's organs after death. Such a system must provide numerous opportunities for “opting out” of donation in order to promote individual autonomy and use economic and eleemosynary incentives for persons to contribute their organs after death. Mere mention of the words “presumed consent” and “compensated donation” may raise ethical eyebrows. However, a system of presumed consent to compensated organ donation should be considered as …