The Jan. 4 article, “In a turf battle for organs, a policy review rattles the national transplant system,” stated stated that nationwide, 12,412 people died or were removed from waiting lists last year because of the lack of available organs. There were 37,461 traffic deaths nationwide in 2016, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The problem is a simple matter of supply and demand.

Why not allow drivers to opt out of organ donation? In most states, a driver can opt in to be an organ donor when they obtain a driver’s license; South Carolina is one of those states. I propose that, unless licensed drivers opt out of donating their organs, hospitals and first responders should be able to lawfully proceed with established procedures to determine if deceased drivers’ organs are usable for transplant.

This protects everyone’s right to self-determination, while significantly increasing the supply of transplantable organs.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.