National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
211 E. Ontario Street, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60611
312-915-0195, Fax 312-915-0187, www.nccusl.org
Contact: John McCabe, NCCUSL Legislative Director, 312-915-0195
Katie Robinson, NCCUSL Communications Officer, 312-915-0195
New Revision to the Rules Governing Organ Donations Approved
July 13, 2006 – About every hour a patient in the United States dies for lack of an available organ transplant – that’s more than 7,000 patients every year. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), today there are nearly 100,000 people on the waiting list for organ transplantation. To facilitate availability of organs, a new revision to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) was approved today by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) at its 115th Annual Meeting in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Efforts to overcome the donor shortage date back nearly 40 years to the promulgation of the first Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968, which was subsequently adopted by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. That original act stipulated – for the first time – that an individual, upon death, could irrevocably donate his or her organs for medical purposes by signing a simple document before witnesses. As simple as this sounds, this was a radical departure from centuries of common-law precedent, which held that a body immediately after death became the property of the next-of-kin.
The original UAGA represented a great achievement in American law, sweeping away the antiquated principles of the common law and the inadequate provisions of existing organ donor legislation, thus eliminating many of the impediments to the transplantation of vital organs.
Since that time, however, new medical technologies have dramatically increased the number of transplants and the demand for organs, resulting in a serious organ shortage. A revision to the UAGA was approved in 1987 in an effort to help narrow the growing gap between supply and demand. However, the 1987 revision was only adopted in 26 states. Consequently, there is significant non-uniformity between the states. Further, neither the 1968 or the 1987 version of the UAGA comports with changes in federal law providing for an allocation system through hospitals and procurement organizations in securing organs for transplantation.
The new revision in 2006 updates the act in light of these changes in federal law and regulation, and related developments in the field of organ donation.
Like the prior versions, the new UAGA provides that any individual may make an anatomical gift by signing a document of gift; no witnesses are necessary for this document.
If an individual does not make a gift before death, the new UAGA provides a list of persons – in priority – who may make an anatomical gift on behalf of the deceased. The list is slightly expanded from prior versions, and now includes agents acting under a health-care power of attorney or other record, adult grandchildren, or a close friend.
The new UAGA includes strengthened language that bolsters the rule (also included in the 1987 act) that a donor’s decisions whether making an anatomical gift are honored and not subject to change by others. It is now common practice for organ procurement organizations to seek affirmation of an anatomical gift from the donor’s family. This can result in a reversal of a donor’s donation decision. The new UAGA explicitly takes away from families the ability to amend or revoke donations made by donors during their lifetimes, affirming the irrevocable quality of a document of gift.
The new revision permits an individual to sign a refusal that bars all other persons from making an anatomical gift of the individual’s body or parts. A refusal generally can be made by a signed record, a will, or, under limited circumstances, orally. By permitting refusals, the UAGA recognizes the autonomy interest of an individual either to be or not to be a donor.
The revision also allows for the making of anatomical gifts on donor registries, which are already in use in some states. The act encourages the creation of donor registries, whether maintained by the state or by another entity. Minimum requirements for a donor registry include making the registry electronic and accessible at all times.
The drafting committee for the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was chaired by Carlyle C. Ring, Jr., of Washington, DC. Other committee members included: John Fox Arnold; St. Louis, Missouir; James M. Bush, Phoenix, Arizona; Phillip Carroll, Little Rock, Arkansas; Joseph M. Donegan, Lyndhurst, New Jersey; David M. English, Columbia, Missouri; Gail H. Hagerty, Bismarck, North Dakota; Sheldon F. Kurtz, Iowa City, Iowa; James C. McKay, Jr., Washington, DC; David G. Nixon, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Arthur H. Peterson, Juneau, Alaska; and Glee S. Smith, Lawrence, Kansas. Sheldon F. Kurtz also served as the committee’s reporter.
NCCUSL, now in its 115th year, comprises more than 350 practicing lawyers, government lawyers, judges, law professors, and lawyer-legislators from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Commissioners are appointed by their states to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states.
A uniform act must be considered at two annual meetings by all commissioners before it can be approved. After receiving NCCUSL’s seal of approval, a uniform act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states, and legislatures are urged to adopt it. Since its inception, NCCUSL has been responsible for more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
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