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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1756 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4049 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Russell E. Holmes |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to saving lives through awareness and enactment. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Russell E. Holmes6th Suffolk1/15/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1756 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4049 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Holmes of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 4049) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Russell E. Holmes for legislation to establish a prisoner donation program. Public Safety and |
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| 20 | 20 | | Homeland Security. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to saving lives through awareness and enactment. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2amended by adding the following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 172. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4clearly appears otherwise, have the following meanings:- |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5 "Approved medical transplant center", a medical facility certified by the United Network |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6for Organ Sharing and meeting all applicable state and federal standards for organ and tissue |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7transplantation. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 "Donor gift", a donation of blood, cell tissue, bone marrow, kidney, liver segment or |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9other organ or tissue suitable for transplantation. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 "Incarcerated person", a person in the custody of the department of correction. 2 of 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11 (b) An incarcerated person may voluntarily donate a donor gift to a recipient, of the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12donor’s choosing, in need of such donation. No incarcerated person shall receive monetary |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13compensation, sentence reduction or any other incentive in exchange for making a donor gift. |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14 (c) Donor gifts shall only be made by the free and voluntary decision of the incarcerated |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15person. All donor gift procedures shall comply with applicable medical standards and ethics. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 (d) The department of correction shall establish protocols to: (i) process requests from |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17incarcerated persons who wish to make a donor gift; (ii) provide transportation to and from |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18approved medical transplant centers; and (iii) maintain all existing security measures during |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19transportation and medical procedures. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20 (e) The department of correction and its medical providers shall not participate in the |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21medical aspects of the donor gift procedure, including evaluation, matching, surgery, or post- |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22operative care. All medical aspects shall be handled exclusively by the approved medical |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23transplant center. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24 (f) The approved medical transplant center shall: (i) conduct all medical evaluations, |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25compatibility tests, and mental health assessments of the incarcerated person; (ii) determine |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26medical eligibility for donation; (iii) provide all pre-operative, surgical and post-operative care; |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27and (iv) develop treatment plans to ensure safe recovery for both the incarcerated person and |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28recipient. |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29 (g) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations to implement this section. |
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