Donor lobby group unhappy over bill

8/11/2006 10:16:02

A bill introduced to parliament to increase the number of organ donors in New Zealand is not going down well with the country's donor lobby group.

The Human Tissue Bill aims to create a register of donors. The bill focuses on the cultural and spiritual needs of a family, and gives family members the power to decide whether the deceased should donate or not.

Give Life spokesman Andy Tookey does not like what he is hearing.

He says not everyone has qualms about their spiritual needs, meaning they do not need anybody else to make decisions for them.

He sees major flaws in the bill, saying it gives family members the power to overturn decisions already made by the deceased. He will be the first to appear before the select committee to argue for donors' rights, as well as those on waiting lists, as opposed to the family of the deceased.

Andy Tookey wants people's wishes to be legally binding after they die.

courtesy of Newstalk ZB - www.newstalkzb.co.nz