As VP of communications and external relations, Patrick also oversees legislative advocacy for Gift of Life Michigan. This is his update about the organization’s important legislative work in Michigan.
More than 14,000 Michiganders were added to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry last year as a result of Gift of Life’s most celebrated legislative victory in years. The historic Check Your Heart Act made Michigan the first state to offer taxpayers the opportunity to join the Donor Registry through their state income tax forms.
That was real progress, and we celebrated on behalf of the roughly 2,600 patients waiting for an organ transplant in Michigan. With another tax season now behind us, a total of 26,000 Michigan residents have checked the box on their tax forms, and we thank them!
We also know that stubborn barriers to Donor Registry momentum could be overcome with the passage of additional critical legislation.
Neighboring states Ohio, Indiana and Illinois all require education in their public high schools about organ and tissue donation and their donor registries.
Michigan has no such requirement. Because of that, our teens are registering at a lower rate than our neighbors after they take driver’s education and obtain their first license or state ID.
A bill that would encourage our high schools to make education about donation available passed in the Michigan House of Representatives last year but wasn’t taken up in the Senate before the session ended.
That means we have to start over with our most pressing legislative priority. This year, I will work hard to get this enacted.
If passed, the bill will help us get into more schools with our award-winning All of Us high school education program and provide teachers with materials to present to their students.
A second bill would encourage family doctors to make information about donation and the Donor Registry available to their patients. This legislation is important because research shows that family doctors influence decisions about organ and tissue donation.
We want physicians to offer donation information that’s provided by Gift of Life so their patients can learn the facts, know the myths and understand how donation works, and ultimately make informed decisions.
Both bills will make up a combined Gift of Life Education Package that we hope will be taken up and passed in 2025. It will require bipartisan collaboration in the legislature, but I’m hopeful that lawmakers will find consensus, knowing that saving lives through donation and transplantation touches us all.
Stay Informed
Keep up to date on Gift of Life’s advocacy efforts, visit our advocacy page at golm.org/advocacy.
