Organ transplant law revised to recognize brain deaths

TOKYO, July 13 Kyodo -
The House of Councillors enacted Monday a revised Organ Transplant Law that
recognizes people who are brain dead as legally deceased and paves the way for
children under 15 also to be organ donors amid mounting calls from patients'
and doctors' groups to increase opportunities for transplants.
The original law, enacted in 1997, recognized brain death as legal death only
in people who have already declared their intention to donate organs, and
prevented children under 15 from donating at all, resulting in limiting the
number of transplants in Japan.
In a plenary session of the 242-member upper house that began at 1 p.m., the
bill, which cleared the House of Representatives last month, won approval 138
to 82 in a matter of minutes. It will take effect in a year from its
promulgation, except for some clauses.
The result came shortly after Prime Minister Taro Aso decided to hold a general
election Aug. 30. The bill won passage ahead of a motion of no-confidence in
the Aso Cabinet that the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan plans to
submit after key bills are voted on.
The law, revised for the first time, is designed to allow people regardless of
age to donate organs as long as they have not refused to do so before death and
that family members agree. The original law required they clearly state their
intention while living to donate organs.
Due to the original law's strict requirements, only 81 organ transplants have
been conducted in Japan, causing many patients to make expensive trips abroad
for transplants -- so-called transplant tourism, a practice the World Health
Organization wants to halt in the near future.
Critics of the legislation say the revised law could lead to cases in which
life-support is hastily halted and that there was not enough debate because of
the tug-of-war between the ruling and opposition camps over the timing of the
coming election.
The bill cleared the legislature after another bill aimed at maintaining the
term of the current law to limit the scope of brain death was voted down with
72 in favor and 135 against.
Yet another bill calling for creating a government panel to come up with a more
detailed explication of brain death in children within a year was not put to a
vote in line with the rule that the one that first gained a majority vote
clears the chamber.
In the same manner as the June 18 lower house vote, most parties refrained from
binding their lawmakers to support a particular bill on the grounds that it was
a matter of conscience, while the Japanese Communist Party decided to support
the aborted bill.
The move toward revising the Organ Transplant Law gained momentum around April,
when speculation was rife that the U.N. health body would call on its member
nations to tighten measures against patients' attempts to undergo transplants
overseas.
==Kyodo