[Swedish white paper on donation can give more donors without compromising ethics]

Swedish white paper on donation can give more donors without compromising ethics The White Paper on organ donation (SOU 2015:84) proposes new regulations for organ donation. In particular it spells out that it is permissible to take medical steps to preserve organs while the patient is still alive. It is proposed that this should be allowed after the medical team has declared that the continuation of life sustaining treatment is futile. The white paper opens up for donation after cardiac death. There has been some critique of the white paper for lack of deeper ethical discussions. The ethical issues pertaining to the proposals are discussed in this paper. It is concluded that the proposals are ethically acceptable. The human dignity principle will however demand that the decision to end life sustaining treatment is taken regardless of whether the patient is a possible organ donor or not.