Did You Know?
Georgia’s Organ Donor Law changed in 2008

Have you renewed your Georgia driver’s license since July 1, 2008?
Do you know why you weren’t asked whether you wanted to be an organ donor?
Pre 7-1-08: Donors must opt-in. After 7-1-08: If you don’t opt-out, your organs may be taken.

Background. Before S.B. 405 passed in April 2008, Georgia law authorized driver’s licenses to be issued at half price for all applicants who agreed to donate their organs at death.

That was an opt-in process. Meaning, organs would not be harvested, unless the individual left word that organs could be harvested. But the 20-page 2008 bill revised the original law, making it an opt-out process. That put everyone in the precarious position of being presumptive donors at death, whether or not they had known they must opt-out to keep their bodies intact.

In August 2008, I reported the change in the organ donor law. Since then, when I address a group anywhere, I ask them to raise their hands if they know the organ donor law had changed. No hands are raised, because no one knows – including legislators. Why don’t they know? It passed hurriedly at the end of the 2008 session and was never publicized. Officials issuing drivers’ licenses, simply, quit asking applicants whether they wanted to become organ donors.

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