Congress moves to end disability-based transplant denial

The U.S. counted its millionth organ transplant on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, a milestone that comes at a critical time for Americans still desperately waiting for that chance at survival. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) Unfortunately, individuals with disabilities face challenges big and small during their lives. In some cases, people with disabilities get denied life itself, because our organ transplant system has used disability as a reason to deny these individuals the :gift of life. Now, however, Congress is on the verge of approving legislation that would end this invidious form of discrimination once and for all.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee recently approved a bill that would prohibit discrimination by members of the national organ transplant network on the basis of an individual s disability. If enacted into law, the measure would prohibit organ procurement organizations from denying patients life-saving access to donor organs solely because they have a physical or intellectual disability.

The bill is named for Charlotte Woodward, a patient with Down syndrome who received a heart transplant in 2012. Although her physician was willing to perform a transplant on Woodward s behalf, others have not been so lucky. Heart defects are common among patients with Down syndrome, yet many patients do not receive access to the life-saving care that they need and deserve.