Venstre’s parliamentary group was given a free vote on the organ donation proposal. Two spokespeople voted against. When a majority consisting of the government as well as The Radical Left and The Alternative on Thursday voted for a resolution to change the consent model for organ donation, there was some unusual lack of complete agreement among one of the government parties. For two Venstre members, Louise Schack Elholm and Heidi Bank, voted against the proposal put forward by Venstre’s Minister of Health, Sophie Løhde. Louise Schack Elholm informed Ritzau that Venstre’s parliamentary group had a free vote, and she called it in a written comment “a proud tradition in Venstre, that the group is free in matters of ethical nature”. – Sophie Løhde has handled it very well as Minister of Health, but the issue of organ donation is a difficult ethical question, and for ethical reasons in this particular case, I have used the freedom in the question and voted against the proposal, said Louise Schack Elholm in the comment. Ritzau has also tried to get further explanation from Heidi Bank, but has not yet succeeded. The adopted resolution, which is also somewhat unusual proposed by the government itself, instructs the government to introduce a bill that includes a model where citizens will have to actively opt out of organ donation in the future. As the rules are today, citizens must actively choose to be organ donors. This can be done when one turns 18 years old. – 28 Danes lost their lives last year while waiting for a new, life-saving organ, and more than 400 seriously ill patients are currently on the waiting list, says Minister of Internal Affairs and Health Sophie Løhde in a press release. – This underscores the need for us to do more and something different to ensure that organs that can save lives do not go to waste. The press release does not specify when the government expects to introduce the bill. Even though everyone will automatically be registered as organ donors if the proposal is adopted, individuals will still have to confirm that they wish to be on the donor list. The Health Committee of the Parliament requested in the summer of 2022 that The Ethical Council provide an updated recommendation on organ donation. This came in January 2023. At that time, the council’s recommendation was that citizens should still actively opt in if they wish to be organ donors. In 2023, 430 patients received one or more organs from Danish or foreign donors. This is the highest number in five years.

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