I can see where they are coming from here.
Blood and organ donation is a Christian duty and congregations should be encouraged to act, a motion to a three-day general assembly of the Church of England says.
It quotes James Newcome, the bishop of Carlisle, saying that blood and organ donation should be part of the “sacrificial offering” Christians are called on to make.
“That ‘sacrificial offering’ is usually associated with time, money and gifts. But it applies just as much to the blood that flows in our veins and the organs that are such an intrinsic part of our bodies,” Newcome says.
Well, yes, it does make sense. I’m not a Christian and I did used to give blood. They stopped taking it from me as I reacted badly to it. I presume it would have to be a dire emergency for them to ask again. As for organ donation, the incessant nagging has made me increasingly hostile. The plan for opt-out is so immoral that I have decided that the answer now is never. Or perhaps, pertinently, over my dead body.
Ahem.
But a separate background paper, prepared for the synod by the C of E’s Mission and Public Affairs Council, says the current system “reflects a careful balance in the relationship between individuals, relatives and the state”.
Changing to an opt-out system would “represent a major, intrusive shift in the state’s relationship with its citizens. An overwhelming case that numbers of lives saved or enhanced would be significantly increased would have to be made before such a shift ought to be introduced,” the paper says.
Yes. This. Precisely this. So, the answer is no a confirmed “no”. Not under any circumstances.
“intrusive” being the key word.
A thought: surely it breaches an ECHR law?
On Laws: isn’t retrospective law illegal? Mortgage interest benefit stopped for all – it was retrospectively already capped at £200pm. Yet rent of x3 x4 or more will still be paid.
Why buy?
This is a rare occasion when I am in total agreement with a statement made by the CofE. I used to give blood but can’t at present as I am on medication for diabetes.
As I’m a pagan (not baptised and no religion), I feel no compunction to follow the Church’s rulings. The bottom line is simple, you only get bits of my body after death if I permit it. Why is this such a difficult concept for them to get their head around?
@rapscallion
Read again. CoE is against compulsion with opt-out; they favour existing voluntary opt-in.