Organ donor status requirement considered

Senators debated a bill March 24 and 25 that would require Nebraskans to indicate their organ donor status when applying for a driver’s license.

Introduced by Syracuse Sen. Dan Watermeier, LB47 would require a person to state whether or not they wish to be an organ donor when applying for a state driver’s license or identification card.

The bill also specifies that an organ donor’s status would continue until amended or revoked by the licensee and that a donor’s status could not be terminated by telephone.

Watermeier said 90 percent of Nebraska’s more than 750,000 organ and tissue donors registered through the current driver’s license and state identification card application process. Requiring an answer to the organ donation question likely would increase the number of donors, he said, which would help address the high demand for organs.

“We have hundreds of people needing organ donations on any given day,” Watermeier said.

Omaha Sen. John McCollister supported the bill, saying organ donation represents a public good that outweighs the personal liberty possibly infringed upon by the application question. More than 120,000 people are waiting for organ transplants in this country, he said, and another person is added to the list every 12 minutes.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha offered a motion March 24 to bracket the bill until June 5, the last scheduled day of the session. He said the state cannot compel a person to declare their opinion on an issue by threatening to deny the right to obtain a driver’s license.

“The right to free expression is the right to not express yourself at all,” Chambers said.

Hoskins Sen. Dave Bloomfield supported the bracket motion, saying government should not require that one’s organ donation status be displayed on a driver’s license.

“It’s a voluntary decision and it should stay that way,” Bloomfield said.

The bracket motion failed on a 14-19 vote.

A pending Transportation and Telecommunications Committee amendment would exempt license and permit applicants under age 16 from answering the organ donor question. The amendment also would reinstate language allowing individuals to terminate their donor status by telephone and clarify that donors who want to specify which organs and tissues they intend to donate must contact the state’s donor registry.

The Legislature adjourned for the week before taking further action on the bill.