BURNLEY MP Peter Pike has called for a radical overhaul of Britain's 40-year-old laws on organ donation.
Mr Pike will be supporting a Bill in Parliament by West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson on Wednesday, which controversially calls for a change in the law to allow organs to be removed for donation after a person's death unless they have registered an objection during their lifetime.
The move would only apply to people over 16 and relatives would be consulted.
Mr Pike said: "There is an urgent need for the law to be changed and brought up to date with modern medical practices.
"This Bill seeks to increase the number of organs available for transplants and make organ donation the norm, rather than the exception."
The Bill also has the backing of the British Medical Association (BMA).
A spokesman said: "The BMA believes that moving to a system of presumed consent, where it is assumed that people are willing to donate their organs after death unless they opt out, combined with other reforms to the transplant infrastructure, would play an important part in improving the supply of organs."
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