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Ontario Libertarian Party: Ontario Organ Donation Bill Seeks Government
Ownership of your Body

February 18, 2006 - Toronto, Ontario.   Ontario M.P.P. Peter Kormos has
introduced Bill 61, which seeks to amend the Trillium Gift of Life
Network Act in order to allow "presumed consent" for organ donations.
According to the bill's explanatory note, the "purpose of the Bill is
to ensure that upon the death of a person, tissue from the person's
body may be removed and made available for transplant into another
person's body and that this may be done without the consent of the
person from whom the tissue is removed."

Trillium Gift of Life Network is a government monopoly that controls
organ donation in Ontario. This agency's restrictions follow a strict
socialist ideology that weeds out non-altruistic motives by potential
living donors. For instance, directed-donation by living donors is
forbidden except among family and friends. As a result, the
availability of organs from living donors does not meet the critical
needs of more than 1800 Ontarians on transplant waiting lists.

Bill 61 seeks to solve this government-created shortage by using the
force of law to harvest organs from any deceased person who has not
stated an objection. Various parties in the Ontario Legislature seek to
force "solutions", whether it is by declaring government ownership of
peoples' dead bodies or by forcing them to sign statements.

Libertarians believe that a person owns his or her own life and body.
The Ontario Libertarian Party rejects Bill 61 as a shameful violation
of personal freedom and self-ownership. We reject the belief held by
Peter Kormos and other legislators, that the government owns the bodies
of Ontarians, or that the government has the right to decide what
happens to our bodies after death. The Libertarian Party utterly
rejects the concept of "presumed consent" for organ donation. Nobody
has a right to take organs and tissues unless explicit consent is
given.

Furthermore, the government has no right to require statements or
collect information on the various reasons - religious, philosophical
or otherwise - that people may have for not donating their organs.

In fact, there should be complete freedom for Ontarians to make
economic and charitable arrangments concerning what happens to their
organs while they are alive and after they are dead. Freedom involves
economic incentives, choice and initiative, whereas government
solutions involve confiscation, restrictions and threats of punishment.


The Libertarian Party calls for the rejection of Bill 61 and for the
abolition of the original Act.


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For further information, contact:
Alan Mercer
Communications Director, Ontario Libertarian Party
Email: amercer@libertarian.on.ca


Learn more about the Ontario Libertarian Party:
Visit www.libertarian.on.ca or write to:
Ontario Libertarian Party
7-91 Rylander Blvd., Box 121
Scarborough, Ontario
M1B 5M5