Where: Cairnes Theatre

When: 24th February

Time: 20:00 – 21:30

Donating an organ can save someone’s life – yet every year people on the transplant list die due to a lack of donors and a lack of time. The government has tried ad campaigns, information sessions and many other mechanisms but nothing so far has worked to increase the level of organ donors in the country to the required level. A new approach is needed is lives are to be saved.

Every year, apathy and a lack of information mean that hundreds of badly needed organs are wasted. By changing the law so that every person is an organ donor unless they ‘opt-out’, we can save dozens of lives that would otherwise be lost. People’s laziness can be tolerated in many situations, but not where the cost is the lives of vulnerable people. People can still refuse, their rights are not harmed, it’s just changing the way they receive those rights.

But changing rights is significant, and where the State assumes rights over your body unless you sign the right form is an important difference. Consider the type of people this will really effect; people who don’t want to deal with the State’s bureaucracy or people who are illiterate are two obvious examples. Do we really want a society where our government owns us unless we state otherwise?

Join Lit & Deb and Sláinte Soc for a debate on saving lives, personal freedoms and the powers of the State.