Panel members want to submit a bill that would revise the Organ Transplant Law by lifting the ban on children under 15 from donating organs.

The bill, which the panel hopes will be sponsored by governing and opposition parties, may be submitted in early March.

It would be the first time since the law was implemented -- in October 1997 -- for Diet debate to be conducted on transplants between children.

The proposed revision is aimed at ending a continuing trend that sees parents taking their children abroad for transplant operations due to a lack of suitable organs here.

The law requires potential donors to express their intent in writing.

The Civil Code stipulates that a person must be at least 15 years old to make a decision of this kind.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 21, 2004
(C) All rights reserved