SEPTEMBER 21, 2005

Michigan residents "with a heart" will show it on their driver's licenses or state identification cards when they agree to have their names added to the state's organ donor registry if legislation approved today becomes law, said Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land.

Under a four-bill package on its way to the governor for signing, residents who consent to place their names on the Michigan Organ, Tissue & Eye Donor Registry will be issued a driver's license or state ID with a red heart logo on the front beginning Jan. 1, 2007.

The measures also authorize the Department of State to maintain a record of individuals willing to have their names placed on the donor registry. That information will be shared with Gift of Life Michigan, the state's nonprofit, full-service organ recovery organization based in Ann Arbor.

"I am very proud of the work the department has been doing to help increase organ donor awareness," Land said. "Through efforts such as Buddy Day, the Organ and Tissue Donor Advisory Committee and our donor enrollment program, we have increased the number of names on the state's donor registry by hundreds of thousands.

"But much more needs to be done. Only about 8 percent of Michigan's 10 million residents are currently enrolled. With this legislation, the department is provided with new tools to help significantly increase that number of donors and potentially save even more lives."

Land thanked the bill sponsors for directing Senate Bill 301 and House Bills 4082, 4469 and 4470 through the Legislature.

"Senator Jud Gilbert and Representatives John Gleason and Philip LaJoy provided the legislative oversight needed to move this important legislation forward," she said. "As a result, thousands of Michigan residents waiting for a lifesaving transplant will now have new hope."

Because of the legislation, a person's intent to be a donor will be highly visible on the face of the driver's license, making it much easier for emergency and hospital personnel to see. The heart logo will also eliminate the need to designate donor wishes by filling out the back of the license.

There will be no fee to add or drop a name from the donor registry. Suspending or revoking a driver's license does not invalidate the individual's expressed intent to be an organ donor.

Until the legislation is signed and the 2007 implementation date is in effect, the department will continue its current practice of collecting and forwarding names to Gift of Life Michigan. Residents may submit their names online at www.Michigan.gov/sos or use the enrollment card mailed with all driver's licenses and state IDs. Enrollment cards are also available in the branch offices. There are more than 860,000 names on the donor registry to date.
RELATED LINK
> The Michigan Organ and Tissue Donor Registry