In February 2024 the Irish government signed into law The Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024, which commenced on Tuesday 17th June 2025.
The Act has been confusing: the government appropriates your organs unless one opts out, but we are also told discussion will be held with family members before ‘harvesting’ takes place. (Those on the Left despise that phrase ‘harvesting organs’, preferring to redefine it – as they need to redefine so many terms and concepts – as procuring!)
Organ donation can be a noble act, but the problem with Ireland’s The Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024 is the model of procuring and transferring organs and tissues employed in this Act.
Dr Liam O’Neill (in a Letter to The Irish Times, 19 June 2025) tells us the opt-out model didn’t lead to increased transplants in Spain and Sweden. One must wonder what happened to the presumed extra organs procured during the years he refers to. There are, he says, 200 transplants a year in Ireland, so what will happen to the increased pool of organs? Will they be sent to the UK, which will benefit more than Ireland will? (Think of Sinn Feiners unwittingly saving the lives of British soldiers!)
The Irish Statute Book provides many definitions pertaining to the Act, but, from my reading of it, does not include – deliberately or not – the most important definition: “dead”. When is someone deemed to be dead for organ procurement purposes? This is controversial and beyond the limits of medicine alone; for example, teenagers certified brain dead have gone through puberty, others recovered.
For more information on the contentious definitions of brain death and brain stem death, you can listen to the following presentation: Prof D Alan Shewmon on “Brain Death and Brainstem Death. A Critical Update.” D Alan Shewmon MD, Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Paediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, presents a Bios Centre seminar on the topic ‘Brain death and brainstem death: a critical update.’
The anthropology of the human person underlying the Act is materialistic and utilitarian, and the procurement and transfer of tissues and organs transactional.
Now consider changes to end-of-life medical ethics in Ireland, which should concentrate minds in this regard. The Irish Medical Council (whose members are frequently political appointments) recently removed from its updated Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners (ninth edition) the words: “You must not take part in the deliberate killing of a patient” and “Usually, you will give treatment that is intended to prolong a patient’s life”, which now reads: “should not start or continue treatment, including resuscitation, or provide nutrition and hydration by medical intervention” in certain circumstances.
As I documented in anticipation of this Bill, the history and definition of death raise more questions than they answer.
Hence, I, like thousands, including those with kidney donor cards, have opted out.
If you want to reconsider and take back control of your body, you can opt out on the HSE’s website here: