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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 457
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2845
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PERSONS WITH A
DISABILITY WHO ARE CANDIDATES TO RECEIV E AN ANATOMICAL
GIFT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-289a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
As used in sections 19a-289a to 19a-289v, inclusive, and section 2 of 3
this act, unless the context otherwise requires: 4
(1) "Adult" means an individual who is at least eighteen years of age. 5
(2) "Agent" means an individual: 6
(A) Authorized to make health care decisions on the principal's behalf 7
by a power of attorney for health care; or 8
(B) Expressly authorized to make an anatomical gift on the principal's 9
behalf by any other record signed by the principal. 10
(3) "Anatomical gift" means a donation of all or part of a human body 11 Raised Bill No. 457
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to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation, 12
therapy, research or education. 13
(4) "Decedent" means a deceased individual whose body or part is or 14
may be the source of an anatomical gift, including a stillborn infant and, 15
subject to restrictions imposed by law other than the provisions of 16
sections 19a-289a to 19a-289v, inclusive, a fetus. 17
(5) "Disinterested witness" (A) means a witness other than the spouse, 18
child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent or guardian of the 19
individual who makes, amends, revokes or refuses to make an 20
anatomical gift, or another adult who exhibited special care and concern 21
for the individual, and (B) does not include a person to whom an 22
anatomical gift could pass under section 19a-289j. 23
(6) "Document of gift" means a donor card or other record used to 24
make an anatomical gift, including a statement or symbol on an 25
operator's license or identification card or inclusion in a donor registry. 26
(7) "Donor" means an individual whose body or part is the subject of 27
an anatomical gift. 28
(8) "Donor registry" means the state donor registry maintained 29
pursuant to the provisions of section 14-42a and includes any other 30
database that identifies donors and conforms with the provisions of 31
section 19a-289s. 32
(9) "Eye bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited or regulated 33
under federal or state law to engage in the recovery, screening, testing, 34
processing, storage or distribution of human eyes or portions of human 35
eyes. 36
(10) "Guardian" (A) means a person appointed by a court to make 37
decisions regarding the support, care, education, health or welfare of an 38
individual, and (B) does not include a guardian ad litem. 39
(11) "Hospital" means a facility licensed as a hospital under chapter 40
368v or the law of any other state or a facility operated as a hospital by 41 Raised Bill No. 457
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the United States, a state or a subdivision of a state. 42
(12) "Identification card" means an identification card issued by the 43
Department of Motor Vehicles. 44
(13) "Knows" or "knowingly" means to have actual knowledge. 45
(14) "Minor" means an individual who is under eighteen years of age. 46
(15) "Operator's license" means a license or permit issued by the 47
Department of Motor Vehicles to operate a vehicle, whether or not 48
conditions are attached to such license or permit. 49
(16) "Organ procurement organization" means a person designated 50
by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human 51
Services as an organ procurement organization. 52
(17) "Parent" means a parent whose parental rights have not been 53
terminated. 54
(18) "Part" (A) means an organ, an eye or tissue of a human being, and 55
(B) does not include the whole body. 56
(19) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, 57
trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, 58
public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, 59
or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. 60
(20) "Physician" means an individual authorized to practice medicine 61
or osteopathy under chapter 370 or the law of any other state. 62
(21) "Procurement organization" means a person licensed, accredited 63
or approved under federal laws or the laws of any state, as a nonprofit 64
organ procurement organization, eye or tissue bank. 65
(22) "Prospective donor" means an individual, except for an 66
individual who has made a refusal, who is dead or near death and has 67
been determined by a procurement organization to have a part that 68
could be medically suitable for transplantation, therapy, research or 69 Raised Bill No. 457
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education. 70
(23) "Reasonably available" means able to be contacted by a 71
procurement organization without undue effort and willing and able to 72
act in a timely manner consistent with existing medical criteria 73
necessary for the making of an anatomical gift. 74
(24) "Recipient" means an individual into whose body a decedent's 75
part has been or is intended to be transplanted. 76
(25) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible 77
medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is 78
retrievable in perceivable form. 79
(26) "Refusal" means a record created under section 19a-289f that 80
expressly states an intent to bar other persons from making an 81
anatomical gift of an individual's body or part. 82
(27) "Sign" means, with the present intent to authenticate or adopt a 83
record: 84
(A) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or 85
(B) To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic 86
symbol, sound or process. 87
(28) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of 88
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory 89
or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 90
(29) "Technician" means an individual, including an enucleator, 91
determined to be qualified to remove or process parts by an appropriate 92
organization that is licensed, accredited or regulated under federal or 93
state law. 94
(30) "Tissue" means a portion of the human body other than an organ 95
or an eye, and excludes blood unless such blood is donated for the 96
purpose of research or education. 97 Raised Bill No. 457
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(31) "Tissue bank" means a person that is licensed, accredited or 98
regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery, 99
screening, testing, processing, storage or distribution of tissue. 100
(32) "Transplant hospital" means a hospital that furnishes organ 101
transplants and other medical and surgical specialty services required 102
for the care of transplant patients. 103
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) A person who is a candidate 104
to receive an anatomical gift shall not be deemed ineligible to receive an 105
anatomical gift solely because of the person's physical or mental 106
disability, except to the extent that a physician has determined, 107
following an evaluation of the person, that the person's physical or 108
mental disability is medically significant so as to contraindicate the 109
acceptance of the anatomical gift. If a person has the necessary support 110
to assist the person in complying with post-transplant medical 111
requirements, the person's inability to comply with such requirements 112
without assistance shall not be deemed to be medically significant. The 113
provisions of this subsection shall apply to each part of the transplant 114
process. 115
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a physician 116
to make a referral or recommendation for, or perform a medically 117
inappropriate transplant. 118
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 19a-289a
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit discrimination against an individual with a disability who
is a candidate to receive an anatomical gift.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]