Fewer than 40% of all adults have signed a donor card or other legal document indicating their willingness to donate their organs after death. Perhaps it’s a form of avoidance, but for whatever reason we just don’t seem to get around to it. "Presumed consent" laws are one solution, but some people find presumed consent laws objectionable on the grounds that they are a form of religious discrimination. Under presumed consent, it's people who do not wish to donate (perhaps for religious reasons) who must make their wishes known in advance, not the other way around.
One innovative and eminently fair solution is to require everyone to make their wishes known. Its called “mandated choice”. In the State of Illinois, every person over the age of 18 who renews a driver’s license must answer the question, “Do you wish to be an organ donor?” The state now has a donor signup rate of 60%. Several other states (Pennsylvania, for one) ask the question as well, but it's for informational purposes only. In Illinois, the answer is considered legally binding, meaning that relatives cannot later overturn it.
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