Several members of the Bundestag drew attention to the issue of organ donation during a tattoo campaign in the German Bundestag. Together with the patient representative of the German government, Stefan Schwartze (SPD), who launched the campaign together with the Young Heroes Association, the parliamentarians had a so-called organ donation tattoo tattooed on Thursday.
According to Schwartze, the aim of the campaign is to increase awareness about the issue of organ donation. It is the first tattoo for himself. “It will most likely remain my only one. “But that is something that I identify with 100 percent and that literally gets under my skin,” said the SPD politician before having the tattoo placed on his upper left arm.
The willingness to donate is clear at first glance
The idea for the tattoo called OPT.INK comes from the Young Heroes Association. The project started just over a year ago and involved about 700 tattoo studios across Germany, said Anna Barbara Sum, co-founder of the association. The tattoo must make the person’s wishes regarding possible organ donation immediately recognizable. According to the association, surviving relatives must make a decision after death without written permission. However, they often refused organ donation due to a lack of knowledge about the deceased’s likely wishes.
Legal validity only by signature
However, according to a spokeswoman for the Federal Center for Health Education, the tattoo is generally not a legally valid form of documentation of the decision to donate organs. “The documentation only becomes legally valid after a personal signature, be it on an organ donor card, a living will or an informal document.” However, a tattoo can be seen as an expression of will and, if no further decision is recorded in writing, can help in making a decision, the spokeswoman said.
Since March, statements about your willingness to donate organs can also be documented digitally. Since then, from the age of 16 you can indicate in a central online register whether you are willing to donate or not after death.
In Austria, conflict resolution applies
The legal situation is different in Austria – here the so-called conflict resolution applies. Organ removal is generally permitted after death, provided the deceased did not object to organ donation during his or her lifetime.
Source: Krone
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