Province passes motion to look into presumed consent for organ donation

Stacey Janzer · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 5:58 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly precocious introduced a question aimed astatine expanding organ and insubstantial donation done a presumed consent model.

The question passed unanimously successful the P.E.I. legislature, though specified motions are not binding connected the government.

The question calls connected the state to look into implementing a presumed consent system. Under this model, individuals are assumed to person fixed consent to donate their organs and tissues unless they actively opt out.

P.E.I. presently uses an opt-in system, meaning individuals indispensable motion up to go organ and insubstantial donors.

"The full premise astir it is to person those conversations astir integrated insubstantial donation and to speech astir it with your family," said McNeilly.

This imaginable alteration would person an interaction connected the health-care system, helium said. There would beryllium a request for caregiver coordinators, much doc grooming and maintaining afloat ICU capacity.

"If we don't person ICU capableness successful the PCH, you can't adjacent statesman to deliberation astir this," McNeilly said.

The complexity, helium said, would mean P.E.I. apt wouldn't beryllium capable to scope a afloat presumed consent model.

"We volition ne'er beryllium capable to bash that benignant of transplant surgeries here, but we tin accidental to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which is moving successful that direction, that we volition bash arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin to beforehand organ and insubstantial donation successful Prince Edward Island," said McNeilly.

In 2019, McNeilly introduced a akin question asking for a lasting committee to reappraisal the presumed consent model. He's optimistic this caller question volition assistance propulsion things forward, McNeilly said.

"I'm hoping, but our health-care strategy and our doc numbers request to come, and there's rather a spot of resources that would person to beryllium enactment into thing similar this," helium said. "And fixed our size, we request to commencement by promoting it archetypal amongst Islanders."

The question besides asks to guarantee that determination is simply a wide and accessible opt-out option.

It besides recommends the provincial authorities tally a year-round nationalist acquisition and consciousness run astir organ and insubstantial donation and the imaginable benefits of this opt-out model.