Organ Donation Laws Need to Be Standardized

The gap between available human organs and patients who need them remains discouragingly wide in the United States. More than 94,000 Americans are on waiting lists, and 7,000 die each year awaiting a transplant that will never come. …

Educational campaigns and techniques like noting donor status on driver’s licenses haven’t closed the gap between donors and those who need organs. In an effort to do so, donation groups are pushing for a nationwide update of the state laws that govern donations. It’s a worthwhile effort.

… Key provisions (of the proposed 2006 Uniform Anatomical Gift act) include protecting a donor’s wishes from family veto after death, making it easier for a majority of survivors to approve donations if the deceased wasn’t a self-designated donor, and strengthening communication between coroners and the groups that gather organs for transplant.

… Any steps to standardize the donation system and increase organ donations, even modestly, are vital to those who wait for the gift of life.

— Denver Post

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