There are not enough organs available for donation in Massachusetts, state Senator Cheryl Jacques (D-Needham) said in a press conference yesterday at the Statehouse.
A policy brief entitled ‘The Gift of Life,’ which examines current Massachusetts laws regarding organ donation and makes several recommendations for changes in state law, was introduced yesterday at the conference.
Jacques, State Senator Susan Fargo (D-Waltham) and Rep. Thomas George (R-Yarmouth) were present, accompanied by several organ recipients who shared their stories and offered support for the legislators’ efforts.
More than 2,600 people are on the organ transplant waiting list in Massachusetts, according to a press release. Only half of these people are expected to receive the organs they need in time to save their lives.
Jacques and George are working to pass a bill in the House that will create a donor registry with the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Currently, no such registry exists, making it difficult to identify potential organ donors with any certainty.
Jacques criticized the lack of a database identifying organ donors, saying such a database would make organ donation easier and more efficient.
Sixteen other states have recently reformed laws regarding organ donations, Jacques said, resulting in an increase in the number of organs donated in those states. In contrast, Massachusetts’ laws have not been updated for 15 years, she said.
The bipartisan reform package filed by Jacques and George includes recommendations for changes in Massachusetts organ donor laws and says, ’15 years without an upgrade to the law is uncalled for.’
George cited the failure of Massachusetts’ laws to clarify whether those who have expressed the intent of donating organs are bound to become organ donors if the occasion arises.
Fargo also supported the initiatives of Jacques and George, calling their goals an effort to ‘save lives, give hope, restore families and give us something to be proud of.’
The creation of a registry would be ‘an incremental step,’ according to Richard Luskin, the executive director of the New England Organ Bank, who said he supported reforming the existing legislation, but acknowledged it would not be able to single-handedly stop the shortage of organs available for donation.
Jacques and George hope to make the bill into law by the end of the year. They will also push for consideration of their bipartisan reform package addressing organ donation law in the next legislative session.
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