Increase in Organ Donation Expected
The Department of Motor Vehicles will be required to accept organ donation registry applications through driver's license applications and renewals under a state law that took effect Saturday, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Previously, the Donate Life registry could accept applications from potential donors only through its Web site. If drivers did not enroll in the registry, their family members could decide whether the organs would be donated, regardless of whether drivers had signed up at the DMV to be an organ donor.
Enrollment in the registry is legally binding, and families will not be able to override a donor's decision.
According to David Heneghan of the California Donor Transplant Network, the new law is "going to make a difference between thousands of people signing up to be organ donors -- and millions" (Feder Ostrov, San Jose Mercury News, 7/6).