How North Carolina just made it easier to stay an organ donor
North Carolina drivers who choose to be organ donors on their driver’s licenses will no longer have to renew their organ-donor status when they renew their licenses.
Senate Bill 135, which passed both the House and Senate unanimously, streamlines the process at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles.
Chuck Heald, spokesperson for Carolina Donor Services, said North Carolina is the 18th state to enact legislation so that once people are asked, they don’t need to be asked again.
“[It] is so important because 99.9% of people who become an organ donor do it at the DMV,” he said.
Changes can be made online later if needed.
If you move to North Carolina from another state, you will be asked if you want to be an organ donor when you get your driver’s license. But if you are a North Carolinian, you will no longer be asked every time you renew your license. The bill also says a statement or symbol will be printed on organ donors’ licenses.
Gov. Roy Cooper signed the bill at a ceremony Monday afternoon at the Executive Mansion in downtown Raleigh.
“Organ donation brings life and hope from tragedy, and this legislation helps reduce the waiting list of people waiting for life saving transplants,” he said in a statement.
Democrats and Republicans from both chambers urged people to become donors to save a life or improve someone’s quality of life.
Sen. Joyce Krawiec and Sen. Paul Lowe, a Republican and Democrat who represent Forsyth County, respectively, jointly took the podium to show what the parties can do when they work together.
Monday’s ceremony was the third bill-signing ceremony held this year by Cooper, and the first held indoors since the statewide mask mandate was lifted in May as COVID-19 vaccinations increased in North Carolina. Such ceremonies are often held when a bill has bipartisan support.
According to Carolina Donor Services, more than 3,200 people in North Carolina are waiting for organ donations, with the majority needing kidneys.
The new law takes effect Oct. 1.
North Carolina organ donation
▪ Carolina Donor Services: carolinadonorservices.org
▪ Donate Life North Carolina: donatelifenc.org
▪ National Kidney Foundation: kidney.org
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 5:35 PM with the headline "How North Carolina just made it easier to stay an organ donor."
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