Bill Text: NY K00212 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2021, as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2021-04-28 - adopted [K00212 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-K00212-Introduced.html

---

Assembly Resolution No. 212

BY: M. of A. Palmesano

        MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
        April  2021,  as  Organ  and  Tissue Donor Awareness
        Month in the State of New York, in conjunction  with
        the observance of National Donate Life Month

  WHEREAS,  Organ  and  tissue  transplantation  has  advanced from an
experimental technique to  a  successful  mode  of  therapy;  for  many,
transplants  mean an improvement in the quality of life; for others they
mean the difference between life and death; and

  WHEREAS, Each year the waiting  list  for  organ  transplants  grows
longer;  many people die before an organ becomes available; the need for
organ donation is real and urgent; and

  WHEREAS, Nationally, the current waiting list for organs has reached
nearly 110,000 and thousands more need tissues; in New York State alone,
nearly 9,000 people are waiting for a transplant; more names  are  added
to  the  waiting list daily and the number of people on the waiting list
far exceeds the number of donors; and

  WHEREAS, To focus attention on the importance of  organ  and  tissue
donation  and  to express gratitude for those who have already given the
gift of life, it is the intent of this Legislative Body  to  memorialize
Governor  Andrew  M.  Cuomo  to proclaim April 2021, as Organ and Tissue
Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York, in conjunction with  the
observance  of National Donate Life Month, which incorporates both organ
and tissue, as well as other donations; and

  WHEREAS, Citizens of the State of New York  have,  for  many  years,
been encouraged to sign up to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor through
the  New  York State Donate Life Registry, a database of individuals who
have chosen, upon their death,  to  donate  their  organs  and  tissues,
through online registration, when they apply for or renew their driver's
license  or  non-driver identification card, or at various locations and
events held throughout the State each year; and

  WHEREAS,  Organ  and  Tissue  Donor  Awareness  Month  provides  the
opportunity to help New Yorkers learn more about organ donation, to help
the  thousands  of  patients awaiting transplantations, and to recognize
the critical need  for  organ,  eye,  tissue,  bone  marrow,  and  blood
donation; and

  WHEREAS,  Many  New Yorkers have set a powerful example, agreeing to
become organ and tissue donors and taking a selfless  action  which  may
potentially  save or enhance the lives of others, yet there continues to
be a shortage of vitally-needed organs and  tissues  and  the  disparity
between the number of registered donors and the number of people needing
transplants  grows  each  year;  a single person donating at the time of
their death can help as many as 75 people; and

  WHEREAS, No one knows when they or a loved one may need a transplant
to survive, or tissue to repair injury or treat disease; while there are

over 19 million New Yorkers,  currently,  an  estimated  6  million  are
enrolled in the New York State Donate Life Registry; and

  WHEREAS,  The  observance  of Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month
provides the  opportunity  to  educate  people,  to  encourage  them  to
consider  organ  and tissue donation, to add their names to the New York
State Donate Life Registry expressing their consent to donate,  ensuring
that  more  lives are saved, and to inform their families and friends of
their decision; and

  WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month is also  a  time  to
recognize  and applaud the researchers, medical professionals, advocates
and volunteers, past and present, who have contributed so  much  to  the
advancement  of  organ and tissue donation and transplantation and, most
particularly, to acknowledge and express our deepest gratitude  for  the
extraordinary  generosity  and  altruistic  gifts of deceased and living
donors and their families, so that others may have  the  opportunity  to
rear  a  family,  hold  a job, and pursue a fuller and more active life;
now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize  Governor  Andrew  M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2021, as Organ
and Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New  York;  and  be  it
further

  RESOLVED,  That  copies  of  this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the  State  of
New York; and Donate Life New York State.