New York may become the first state to automatically consent residents into donating their organs.
The legislation, which is sponsored by more than a dozen sponsors including lawmakers, medical experts, and the New York Organ Donor Network, would change the current system of drivers choosing to donate their organs when they apply for a driver's license at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
With 10,000 New Yorkers currently on the national waiting list for organs, the sponsors said only 11 percent of eligible New Yorkers are enrolled to donate in comparison to a countrywide average of 43 percent.
Westchester assemblyman Richard Brodsky, whose daughter received a kidney transplant four years ago, said 24 other countries have presumptive enrollment for organ donation.
"The presumption is they intend to donate, but the family would have the ability to say no," Brodsky said. "There's more fear than there is outright opposition."
