INDIANA— Practitioners who apply for professional licenses through the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency to practice in Indiana, which is one in six working Hoosiers, now have a new opportunity to sign up as lifesaving organ and tissue donors.
Authored by Indiana Sens. Blake Doriot (Dist. 12) and Ed Charbonneau (Dist. 5), Senate Enrolled Act 260-2022 requires the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency to ask all license applicants and those seeking a license renewal if they wish to be an organ and tissue donor. A wide variety of occupations require a professional license, including nurses, hair stylists, accountants, dentists, plumbers, physical therapists, and real estate agents.
Indiana was the first state in the U.S. to pass legislation requiring the donation question to be asked of those seeking professional licenses or renewals. Indiana Donor Network and Donate Life Indiana campaigned for the legislation. Since then, other states throughout the U.S. have followed suit.
“This legislation will no doubt increase the number of Hoosiers who want to give the gift of life,” said Tim Clauson, president of the board of directors of Donate Life Indiana, the organization responsible for managing the state’s donor registry and raising awareness for organ, tissue and cornea donation and transplantation in Indiana through public education.
“The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency is proud to partner with the Indiana Donor Network and Donate Life Indiana in promoting its critical mission of saving and enhancing the quality of life through organ and tissue donation and transplantation,” said Lindsay Hyer, executive director of the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency.
The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency’s process is now the fifth way Hoosiers can register to become organ and tissue donors. They can also say “yes” to donations while conducting business at any Bureau of Motor Vehicle branch when applying for a hunting, fishing, or trapping license through the state Department of Natural Resources, on Donate Life Indiana’s website, and through Apple’s Health app.
When someone signs up as a donor, they are automatically authorized to donate organs at the end of their life if they are medically eligible to donate.
One donor can save eight lives through organ donation and save or heal up to 75 people through tissue donation. Others can gain sight through cornea donation.
Indiana Donor Network, the federally designated organ procurement organization for 85 of Indiana’s 92 counties, coordinates organ recovery and transplantation processes.
“This is one more step in making it as easy as possible for Hoosiers to sign up to be organ, tissue, and cornea donors,” Clauson said.
Currently, more than 104,000 Americans are waiting on a lifesaving organ transplant, including more than 1,300 Hoosiers. More than 4.4 million Hoosiers are registered organ and tissue donors.
Despite age or medical history, anyone can sign up to be a donor online at Donate Life Indiana.
