New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network Legislative Initiatives: A Decade of Advocacy

Over the past seventeen years, NJ Sharing Network has spearheaded a number of state and federal campaigns to maximize access to organ transplants for New Jersey citizens.

Senate President and Acting Governor Richard Codey signs the "New Jersey Hero Act" into law (center). Pictured with Codey from left to right are lung recipient, Denise Peoples, Assemblywoman Mila M. Jasey, Assemblyman Albert Coutinho and donor family member, Diane Bottino.

With the enactment of the Hero Act on July 22, 2008, New Jersey became the first state in the union to advocate that its residents have the fundamental responsibility to choose whether to help save another person’s life. The state’s public policy toward organ and tissue donation has moved from a position of general support to a position of advocacy that encourages positive donation decisions as imperative to saving more lives. The Hero Act was designed to create a more dynamic and comprehensive public policy regarding organ and tissue donation and includes the following mandated decisional and educational components. Learn more about the bill.

July 26^th 2007, Governor Jon S. Corzine signed bill A1190 which requires the placement of organ donation information and materials at public institutions of higher education. This legislation helps to boost public awareness of the benefits of organ and tissue donation and increase participation in donation programs across the state.

NJ Sharing Network, in cooperation with the Division of Motor Vehicles, enacted the 2007 Donor Registry Act that established the parameters of a statewide donor registry, which allows those who wish to be organ donors to register their wishes on their digital driver’s license and in an electronic registry. OPO’s are now able to confirm the potential donor’s wishes by checking the registry.

NJ Sharing Network worked with legislators to develop a special license plate bearing the slogan, “Be an Organ Donor.” The bill is law, and the plates are made available by the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles. This is another effort to raise the awareness of organ donation in New Jersey.

NJ Sharing Network worked very closely with the New Jersey Law Revision Commission in drafting amendments to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. The amendments were created to integrate existing state laws with federal law in an effort to streamline the consent and donation process. These amendments were enacted in Spring, 2001.

After a two-year battle, NJ Sharing Network gained a victory in the effort to reform the federal regulatory process by which organ procurement organizations must be certified for operation. Under the old rules, certification and re-certification relied exclusively on population-based measures of performance. Those measures did not take into account variables and factors that influence the degree of donation in a state. This placed an unfair burden on New Jersey and other states. With passage of the federal Organ Procurement Organization Certification Act of 2000, the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop an equitable system of measuring performance standards, to extend certification cycles, and to create an appeals process to address unjust de-certifications.

NJ Sharing Network led a successful campaign for implementation of a tax return voluntary check-off. Beginning in 2002, contributions by taxpayers on gross income tax returns provide funds for organ donor public education programs.

In the past, a donor’s designation on his or her drivers’ license was not considered a legally binding document since there was no witnessing of that document. NJ Sharing Network worked with legislators to amend the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act to deem all verifiable expressions of the donor's desire to make a gift as legal, binding documents, not revocable by any other person.

NJ Sharing Network campaigned to ensure that organ donation was facilitated by New Jersey’s enactment of the 10-year digitized driver's license. This law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to prominently display the word "ORGAN DONOR" on the license, for those who indicate a wish to donate. The license is a legal document, which gives health care professionals authorization to proceed with organ donation.

In November 1995, The New Jersey Organ Donor Enhancement Act was passed, requiring hospitals in New Jersey to notify the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network of all deaths. As a result of this legislation, referrals have increased significantly. This bill also streamlines the donation process for hospitals, making it easier for them to be part of the organ donation team.

Benchmark legislation in New Jersey allows for cooperation between medical examiners and those who would like to donate organs and tissues. New Jersey's law, enacted in 1994 requires Medical Examiners to complete their investigations in a time frame and manner compatible with donation, so that the need to investigate suspicious deaths, and the public health need to increase organ donation are both equally supported. Since the passage of this law, there have been no Medical Examiner denials of organs, and no criminal prosecution has been impacted, due to improved collaboration.

In 1992, a law was enacted requiring the Division of Motor Vehicles to include information about organ donation with all drivers’ license applications. This created tremendous awareness of the need for organ donation. We are now working with the Division of Motor Vehicles to develop additional programs to increase public awareness of the need for organ donation.

In 1991, NJ Sharing Network supported the enactment of the Declaration of Death Act, which allowed New Jersey to join the rest of the country in acknowledging neurological criteria as a means of declaring death. This clarified and codified well-established medical criteria.