- Gareth Gordon
- BBC News Northern Ireland Political Correspondent
Image source, NHS Blood and Transplant
Major changes to organ donation rules in Northern Ireland have passed a second reading at Stormont.
Councillors approved the bill by a vote of 69-6, and it will now head to the Health Committee.
If the bill passes, people will automatically become organ donors unless they explicitly opt out.
Northern Ireland is currently the only part of the UK that does not have an opt-out system for organ donation.
“This Bill allows us to begin the debate about what organ donation means,” Health Minister Robin Swann said during the debate.
Until June, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had blocked attempts to pass the bill.
The lack of opposition means such a bill could become law before parliament is dissolved ahead of elections scheduled for May.
But campaigners fear the bill may never become law because of the DUP's threats to collapse Stormont over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
There are currently around 115 people waiting for an organ transplant in Northern Ireland.
Health Minister Robin Swann said the bill was “long-awaited by everyone involved in the organ donation process”.
He told Congress the measure would increase the number of donors and “ultimately increase the number of life-saving organs available for transplant.”
The Minister outlined how the Bill draws on lessons from legislation in other parts of the UK.
“This Bill means that any adult in Northern Ireland will be considered a potential donor unless they opt out or are excluded,” he added.
“A big step forward”
Martin McGovern, whose four-year-old son Daithi has been waiting for a new heart for three years, said the proposals were a “huge step forward” for him and others on the waiting list.
“Transplants are done when all other options have been exhausted and are the last hope for patients,” he said.
“There are things our politicians can accomplish to improve the chances that your loved ones will receive vital organs.”
He urged those in power to make the political system “work and ensure that important issues like soft opt-out organ donation have a chance to pass.”
“I beg politicians to give these important bills a chance to become law because they could make a real difference to our society,” he said.
He said he would be “really saddened” if Stormont were to succumb over the issue.
“We've come so far and we've garnered a lot of political support and it would be an absolute travesty if the collapse of Stormont meant we don't have legislation like soft opt-out organ donation,” Mr McGovern said.
Feargal McKinney, from the British Heart Foundation, told BBC Northern Ireland's Sunday Politics programme that if power-sharing was removed before the Bill was passed, campaigners would launch another campaign for the Bill.
“The gift of life is now in the hands of politicians,” he said.
This represents 29% of all donors over the 12-month period, resulting in a total of 714 organs being transplanted.
Transplant surgeon Dr. Tim Brown said he doesn't think opt-out laws are “the way to achieve change.”
He said he would like to see a situation where organ donor registers would be “unnecessary.”
“I would like it to become a norm in society that if someone finds themselves in the tragic position of having to donate their organs, they can do so without having to be put on a list,” he said.
He said he was troubled by the “deprivation of individual autonomy” involved in the opt-out plan.
“I think education and support around giving is the way to make that happen. Legislation is a step beyond that, but I don't think it's necessary,” he added.
