Utah could join states allowing prisoners to donate organs
The Salt Lake Tribune | Brooke Adams
A Utah lawmaker wants to make it possible for inmates to do a final good act if they happen to die while serving time.
Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, is again proposing a bill that would allow inmates to voluntarily agree to posthumously donate their organs. In the 2012 session, his bill passed the House but time ran out before it could be considered by the Utah Senate. The criminal justice interim committee approved the inmate medical donation act on Wednesday.
"In some respects, it’s a way for someone who is trying to pay their dues to society to get one last shot on their way out," he said in an interview.
Over the past four years, an average of 15 inmates have died each year while incarcerated, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. The department began including organ-donor consent forms in the paperwork given to inmates during orientation at the end of 2011 after speaking with Eliason about his proposal.
"They liked the idea so much they implemented it anyway even though it did not become law," Eliason said.
Giving and receiving
The Utah Department of Corrections last year decided to allow inmates to voluntarily fill out organ donor cards â€" something a Utah lawmaker wants to require by statute â€" as part of their paperwork upon arrival at the prison. It also allows medically needy inmates to receive transplants. In 2011, two inmates received bone marrow transplants as part of cancer treatment, for example, as a cost of $500,000 per inmate.
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A Utah lawmaker wants to make it possible for inmates to do a final good act if they happen to die while serving time.
Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, is again proposing a bill that would allow inmates to voluntarily agree to posthumously donate their organs. In the 2012 session, his bill passed the House but time ran out before it could be considered by the Utah Senate. The criminal justice interim committee approved the inmate medical donation act on Wednesday.
"In some respects, it’s a way for someone who is trying to pay their dues to society to get one last shot on their way out," he said in an interview.
Over the past four years, an average of 15 inmates have died each year while incarcerated, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. The department began including organ-donor consent forms in the paperwork given to inmates during orientation at the end of 2011 after speaking with Eliason about his proposal.
"They liked the idea so much they implemented it anyway even though it did not become law," Eliason said.
At a glance
The Utah Department of Corrections last year decided to allow inmates to voluntarily fill out organ donor cards â€" something a Utah lawmaker wants to require by statute â€" as part of their paperwork upon arrival at the prison. It also allows medically needy inmates to receive transplants. In 2011, two inmates received bone marrow transplants as part of cancer treatment, for example, as a cost of $500,000 per inmate.
Read more
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