Update To Pennsylvania Organ Donation Law Remains Contentious
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- State lawmakers continue to grapple with legislation that would update Pennsylvania's organ donation laws.
State lawmakers have been trying for years to improve the law to make more organs available for transplant – without success. In the current two-year legislative session, an organ donation update bill has passed the Senate. But that bill has now been amended in the House, and the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Joseph Petrarca, contends that the measure no longer represents a negotiated agreement with the organ donation community.
"To continue to watch people die on a daily basis in Pennsylvania – to have an amendment to a piece of legislation that does not fix the problem and, in fact, puts Pennsylvania back years and years and years, if not decades, in terms of organ donation, is just absolutely unacceptable," Petrarca said.
Supporters of the amendment say it strikes a good balance among competing interests.