Recently, the Mexican government approved of a new project that will make organ donations mandatory for all 18 and above. This means that once a person of that age dies, any good organs will be put up for donation unless people leave any statement saying they don’t want to donate their organs.

Many argue this will only cause more corruption in Mexico – instead of a doctor saving someone, they could easily let them die to get a hold of their organs. However, those in favor argue that this could save many people who are currently on a long waiting list anticipating a new organ. Although this project does have its flaws, making organ donations mandatory once a person is dead can indeed help lots of other people.

According to Economiahoy.mx, 60 percent of Mexicans refused to donate the organs of family members who have passed away. But why refuse to donate organs? Why take away someone’s chance at life? Those 60 percent of Mexicans who refused to donate their family member’s organs could have saved hundreds of lives. According to Economiahoy.mx, at the end of 2017, waiting lists looked something like this: 7,228 people waiting on corneal receptors, 13,634 for kidneys, 361 for a liver, and 47 waiting for a heart. If more organ donations were made, then these numbers would decrease, therefore this new project is definitely something positive that would help many people.

Aofia, an algebra teacher at Bel Air High School, is someone well educated on organ donations because of her husband. While she was away from home, her husband had a terrible accident that took his life. However, because he was an organ donor, he ended up saving five lives and donating seven of his organs in total – he donated six of his organs to five people and his liver went to research because, unfortunately, doctors weren’t able to find someone on time. When asked about her opinion on this new project/law, Aofia “agree[s] a hundred percent.”

Being afraid of a doctor taking advantage of the fact that you are an organ donor or not donating organs because of religious reasons are “some of the very big myths that exist when it comes to organ donation,” Aofia said.

“With medical doctors, when they take their oath to become a doctor, their mission is to save lives. That’s what they do. They’re supposed to save their patient,” Aofia said.

This myth of doctors taking advantage of their patients being an organ donor and not do everything to save them is completely false. In fact, as explained by Aofia, only when the patient is transported to the hospital and diagnosed with some kind of brain damage is when an organ donor procurement organization is called. This organization works alongside with the doctor to make sure the patient can get all the help they need and only when the patient is declared brain dead is when organ donation becomes a possibility.

“As far as religion, it’s actually been researched [that] there’s actually no religion at all that is against organ donation,” Aofia said.

Although many people refuse to donate their organs for religious reasons, in reality, every religion supports organ donations so really, that’s no excuse. Catholicism was one of the biggest religions in which organ donations was a controversial topic. According to Aofia, in olden days, Catholicism did not support organ donations, but quite recently, the Pope gave a very big speech on how organ donations reflect what God has intended for us.

According to Aofia, an average of 22 people are added to the transplant waiting list every day, and only the two percent of people who die from brain damage is actually able to donate organs. But imagine what this new opt-out system could do? Imagine how it could change things around for the better of everyone. It’s devastating to think that millions of people all over the world don’t register to become an organ donor just because they’re afraid of silly myths. It’s honestly even more devastating to think of the lives that could have been saved, but weren’t, by these millions of people.

Like Aofia said, if the U.S. were to turn into an opt-out just like Mexico, so many more lives could be saved. Even though many disagree with this system, it’ll, in fact, save lives.

By Andrea Nuñez