Dr Maeghan Toews1
1University Of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Biography:
Bio to come
Abstract:
PURPOSE:
Increasingly, Australian courts have found that post-mortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) falls within states’ legislative frameworks for deceased organ donation and transplantation. While the legal complexity of PMSR has been explored in scholarship, little attention has been given to the nuances of deceased donation law in this context. This presentation will therefore provide this necessary piece of the ongoing law reform and policy discussions pertaining to PMSR in Australia.
NATURE/SCOPE:
In reviewing deceased donation legislation, this work focuses on the impact of PMSR case law on the role of “Designated Officers”: ministerially appointed physicians, who, in most Australian jurisdictions, must provide authorisation for the removal of tissue from deceased bodies in hospital.
THE PROBLEM UNDER CONSIDERATION:
As the legislative gatekeeper for deceased tissue removal, Designated Officers play a crucial role in deceased donation. Adding PMSR to their remit represents a significant expansion to the expectations of the role, which has traditionally been focused on tissue removal for purposes of transplantation (not assisted reproduction). It is therefore important for law and policymakers to have clear understandings of the current state of the law and Designated Officers’ obligations in this respect.
OUTCOME/CONCLUSION:
The authorisation of PMSR should not be placed on the shoulders of individual Designated Officers without sufficient training and clear policy guidance. A clearer and more unified law and policy approach to PMSR is therefore needed, adding weight to calls for law reform on this issue.