Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by wafn 2224 days ago
Regarding bodily autonomy, I feel the need to play Devil's Advocate here: if organ donation saves other lives at your own moral discomfort (because presumably you wouldn't be forced to donate organs until after death), what difference is there between this requirement and the requirement to vaccinate, wear masks, etc.? By this I mean if somebody claims bodily autonomy to oppose mandatory organ donation, should they also be able to claim it for those other "despite the public good" reasons?
2 comments
toast0 2223 days ago
Accepting your premise that all of these things are equivilent, when you change mask rules or required vaccinations, etc, you need to let everyone know. So if they don't agree, they can protest, or leave, or attempt to arrange the circumstances of their death to prevent the removal of their organs (it's haddly a donation if it's forced).

I'm trying not to argue for or against opt-in vs opt-out or no choice, that's a fine discussion to have, but this thread was more about notice.

link
DanBC 2223 days ago
There was extensive publication as the law was being discussed in parliament, and when it was passed.

It's more important to tell people when the green and white papers are being read and when the bill is being discussed, and then when the law is made, and there was a lot of publicity then.

link
Fnoord 2223 days ago
If you opt out vaccination or wearing masks, you increase the risk of the entire population to get infected, since we are talking about viral diseases. This is a dishonest comparison, as situations where an organ is needed can have a myriad of reasons. It could be gene related ("predestined"), it could be self inflicted (e.g. smoking), it could be from an infection (including COVID-19), it could be from an accident (who's fault?).

The comparison is also moot because there is no opt-out of a law which forces you to wear a mask, or forces you to get vaccinated. There is an opt-out regarding organ donation. A comparison would be, that you'd be forced to wear masks everywhere, and that you'd by default get vaccinated, but you are free to decline (opt-out). Well, vaccinations in The Netherlands already work like this. Your kid gets asked to get a vaccination, and you are free to decline it. You don't have to ask the government for it though. That's opt-out as well.

link