Organ donation process will be made easier in new law

A law meant to ease the process of committing to donate one's organs after death will be debated in the Ministerial Law Committee on Sunday.

Dvora Szerer showing her Adi card (photo credit: COURTESY DVORA SZERER)
Dvora Szerer showing her Adi card
(photo credit: COURTESY DVORA SZERER)

A law meant to ease the process of committing to donate one's organs after death will be proposed and debated in the ministerial Law Committee on Sunday, in an initiative by the National Center for Organ Transplants brought forward by MK Merav Ben-Ari (Yesh Atid).

The law's aim will be to digitalize and simplify the process of registering as a potential organ donor, which, until now, required the procurement of the "Adi" card. The card also granted its owner priority in case he or she needed an organ transplant.

Some one million Israelis have signed Adi cards, and over half of all transplants were received by prioritized card owners. Some 65% of families in Israel agreed to sign the Adi card when asked about it directly; therefore, the easy and simple process will lead to an increase in potential organ donors, according to Ben-Ari.

"I chose to sign my Adi card in 2007," Ben-Ari said. "Saving lives is a big privilege and expresses Israeli society's unique solidarity," she said.

"The law will enable people to become Adi holders in an easy and convenient way, which may then save thousands of lives every year," she added.

Merav Ben-Ari with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, February 1, 2021 (credit: RAANAN COHEN)
Merav Ben-Ari with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, February 1, 2021 (credit: RAANAN COHEN)

"The law was born three years ago in a meeting with the head of Yesh Atid - Yair Lapid, who has been at our side for may years," said Dvorah Sherrer from the National Center for Organ Transplants." 

"Lapid accepted the idea and got his whole team on board in order to prepare the law," she added.