‘No organ donation’ registrations reach 170,000 since D66 bill was passed

The number of people who have registered as being unwilling to donate their organs after their death has gone up by 170,000 since parliament voted in favour of setting up a ‘yes unless’ register, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday.

Last September, MPs  gave a surprise thumbs up to a D66 motion to establish a ‘yes unless’ system for donor organs in the Netherlands.

Labour, D66, the Socialists, Groenlinks, seven VVD MPs, 50Plus and one independent voted in favour of the bill, which must still be considered in the upper house of parliament.

D66 hopes that by establishing an opt-out register, more organs will become available for transplant. ‘The aim of our law is to get people to make a choice,’ the bill’s backer Pia Dijkstra said. ‘A no registration is clear. That makes it a lot easier for relatives and doctors.

The Volkskrant said later that the new ‘no’ registrations take the total number of people who have said they don’t want to be organ donors to 1.7 million. At the same time, nearly three million people have said their organs can be used freely.

Some 1,100 people are currently on the transplant list.