By: Moncrief S.B. No. 952
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to anatomical gifts and donor cards.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Sections 521.401, 521.402, and 521.403,
1-4 Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-5 Sec. 521.401. STATEMENT OF GIFT. (a) A person who wishes
1-6 to be an eye, tissue, or organ donor may execute a statement of
1-7 gift.
1-8 (b) The statement of gift may [shall] be shown by a card
1-9 designed to be carried by the donor to evidence the donor's
1-10 intentions with respect to organ, tissue, and eye donation. A
1-11 donor card signed by the donor shall be given effect as if executed
1-12 pursuant to Section 692.003(d), Health and Safety Code.
1-13 (c) Donor cards shall be provided to the department by
1-14 qualified organ or tissue procurement organizations or eye banks,
1-15 as those terms are defined in Section 692.002, Health and Safety
1-16 Code. The department shall provide a means to distribute donor
1-17 cards to interested individuals in each office authorized to issue
1-18 driver's licenses or personal identification certificates. The
1-19 department and other appropriate state agencies, in cooperation
1-20 with qualified organ, tissue, and eye bank organizations shall
1-21 pursue the development of a combined statewide database of donors.
1-22 (d) Effective September 1, 1997, a statement of gift on
1-23 driver's licenses or personal identification certificates shall
2-1 have no force and effect, provided, however, that an affirmative
2-2 statement of gift on a [symbol placed on the face of the] person's
2-3 driver's license or personal identification certificate executed
2-4 prior to September 1, 1997, shall be conclusive evidence of a
2-5 decedent's status as a donor and serve as consent for organ,
2-6 tissue, and eye removal.
2-7 [(c) A statement of gift must be executed each time the
2-8 person applies for renewal, reinstatement, or replacement of the
2-9 driver's license or personal identification certificate.]
2-10 [(d) A symbol of gift shown on the face of a driver's
2-11 license or personal identification certificate complies with the
2-12 requirements of Chapter 692, Health and Safety Code.]
2-13 Sec. 521.402. [ALTERNATIVE EXECUTION OR] REVOCATION OF
2-14 STATEMENT OF GIFT. (a) To revoke an affirmative statement of gift
2-15 on a person's [execute at a time other than on application or
2-16 revoke a statement of gift for the issuance, renewal,
2-17 reinstatement, or replacement of a] driver's license or personal
2-18 identification certificate made prior to September 1, 1997, a
2-19 person must apply to the department for an amendment to the license
2-20 or certificate.
2-21 (b) The fee for an amendment is the same as the fee for a
2-22 duplicate license.
2-23 Sec. 521.403. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO HOSPITAL. The donor
2-24 card [driver's license or personal identification certificate] of a
2-25 person who is involved in an accident or other trauma shall
3-1 accompany the person to the hospital or other health care facility
3-2 [if the person's license or certificate has a statement of gift
3-3 symbolized on it]. The driver's license or personal identification
3-4 certificate issued prior to September 1, 1997, indicating an
3-5 affirmative statement of gift of a person who is involved in an
3-6 accident or other trauma, shall accompany the person to the
3-7 hospital or health care facility if the person does not have a
3-8 donor card.
3-9 SECTION 2. Section 692.002, Health and Safety Code, is
3-10 amended by adding a new Subdivision (4) and renumbering existing
3-11 Subdivisions (4) through (8) to read as follows:
3-12 (4) "Donor card" means a card designed to be carried
3-13 by a donor to evidence the donor's intentions with respect to
3-14 organ, tissue, or eye donations.
3-15 (5) "Eye bank" means a nonprofit corporation chartered
3-16 under the laws of this state to obtain, store, and distribute donor
3-17 eyes to be used by ophthalmologists for corneal transplants,
3-18 research, or other medical purposes.
3-19 (6) [(5)] "Hospital" means a hospital:
3-20 (A) licensed, accredited, or approved under the
3-21 laws of any state; or
3-22 (B) operated by the federal government, a state
3-23 government, or a political subdivision of a state government.
3-24 (7) [(6)] "Part" includes an organ, tissue, eye, bone,
3-25 artery, blood, other fluid, and other parts of a human body.
4-1 (8) [(7)] "Physician" means a physician licensed or
4-2 authorized to practice under the laws of any state.
4-3 (9) [(8)] "Qualified organ or tissue procurement
4-4 organization" means an organization that procures and distributes
4-5 organs or tissues for transplantation, research, or other medical
4-6 purposes and is:
4-7 (A) affiliated with a university or hospital; or
4-8 (B) registered to operate as a nonprofit
4-9 organization in this state for the primary purpose of organ or
4-10 tissue procurement.
4-11 SECTION 3. Subsection (e), Section 692.003, Health and
4-12 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
4-13 (e) A gift made under this section by a person 18 years of
4-14 age or older, including a gift made under Section 521.401,
4-15 Transportation Code [11B, Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th
4-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1941 (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas
4-17 Civil Statutes)], shall be honored without obtaining the approval
4-18 or consent of any other person.
4-19 SECTION 4. Section 692.014, Health and Safety Code, is
4-20 amended to read as follows:
4-21 Sec. 692.014. PROCEDURES. (a) At or near the time of
4-22 notification of death, if it is unclear whether the decedent is or
4-23 is not a donor, the organ or tissue procurement organization or its
4-24 designee shall ask the person authorized to make an anatomical gift
4-25 on behalf of the decedent under Section 692.004, according to the
5-1 priority established by that section, whether the decedent is or is
5-2 not a donor. The inquiry shall be made in accordance with the
5-3 protocol established under Section 692.013 and with the procedures
5-4 established under Subchapter Q, Chapter 521, Transportation Code
5-5 [Section 11B, Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature, Regular
5-6 Session, 1941 (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)].
5-7 (b) If the decedent is a donor 18 years of age or older, the
5-8 decedent's anatomical gift made under Section 692.003, including a
5-9 gift made under Section 521.401, Transportation Code [11B, Chapter
5-10 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature, Regular Session, 1941 (Article
5-11 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], shall be honored without
5-12 obtaining the approval or consent of any other person.
5-13 (c) A copy of the decedent's donor card or a decedent's
5-14 driver's license or personal identification certificate with an
5-15 affirmative statement of gift issued prior to September 1, 1997,
5-16 [card with a statement of anatomical gift symbolized on it or a
5-17 document executed in accordance with Section 692.003] is conclusive
5-18 evidence of the decedent's status as a donor and serves as consent
5-19 for the organ, [or] tissue, or eye removal.
5-20 (d) If the decedent is not a declared donor, the organ or
5-21 tissue procurement organization or its designee shall inform the
5-22 person of the option to donate the decedent's organs, [and]
5-23 tissues, and eyes according to the procedures established under
5-24 this chapter and under Subchapter Q, Chapter 521, Transportation
5-25 Code [Section 11B, Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature,
6-1 Regular Session, 1941 (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil
6-2 Statutes)].
6-3 SECTION 5. The Department of Public Safety of the State of
6-4 Texas may continue to use its current supply of driver's licenses
6-5 and personal identification cards; however, the department shall
6-6 not place any information on the driver's licenses and personal
6-7 identification cards pertaining to the person's status as an organ
6-8 donor after September 1, 1997.
6-9 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-10 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.