April is National Donate Life Month. This month is dedicated to educating and encouraging Americans to register as donors of organs, tissue, marrow, and blood. Donating is a generous act that saves thousands of lives annually.
Transplanting organs and tissue are one of the greatest and most successful medical procedures in the history of medicine. Organ transplantations offer patients a chance to give back to their families, friends, and communities. Your generosity can save as many as eight lives through organ donation, bring sight to others with cornea donations and improve yet another 75 lives or more through tissue donation.
More than 39,000 lives were saved last year due to successful transplants. Organs that can be donated include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, and intestines. Tissues that can be donated include arteries, bone marrow, eyes (corneas), cartilage, skin, soft tissue, veins, and heart valves and vessels. More than 100,000 men, women, and children are on the transplant waitlist currently. Furthermore, another person is added to the nation’s organ transplant waiting list every 9 minutes. To learn more information about organ donation and transplantation, please visit Organ Donation and Transplantation.
Anyone can sign up to be a donor despite your age and medical history. In Texas, you can sign up to be a donor at Donate Life Texas. You can also sign up to be an organ donor when you apply or renew you Texas Driver’s license through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, too. Instructions to receive the Organ Donor designation on your Driver’s License can be found at DMV Organ Donation in Texas.
Another way to give is by donating blood. Blood donors save many lives every year. In our community, more than 120 people a day must donate blood to maintain the blood supply in the ten-county area served by the Coastal Bend Blood Center. To donate blood, you can find a location to donate blood at the Coastal Bend Blood Center. To learn more information about blood donation visit the American Red Cross Blood Donation Process.
Also, the 87th Legislative Session is in full swing! Sine Die, the final day, of this Session is May 31st. Until then, the Legislature will continue to hold hearings over bills in committees and decide matters in the House and Senate Chambers. To look up and track legislation that interests you, please visit Texas Legislature Online. You are able to look up legislation by word, phrase, or bill number in the top-middle section of this page. The left of the page has several links that will connect you to the Texas House of Representatives and to the Texas Senate.
To receive alerts of bills that interest you, please visit My Texas Legislature Online. You can create a free account by clicking on “New User” underneath the password box. Once you’ve created your login, you will see a line full of empty boxes. Under “bill”, you type in the bill number and leave the next box as “any category”. This will send you alerts each time the bill moves through the legislative process. You can also add notes. Finally, select “Add Bill”.
If you have questions regarding any of the information mentioned in this week’s article, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. Please always feel free to contact my office if you have any questions or issues regarding a Texas state agency, or if you would like to contact my office regarding constituent services. As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
– State Representative Todd Hunter, District 32
Rep. Hunter represents Nueces County (Part). He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.texas.gov or at 512-463-0672.
