Permits a close friend to make an anatomical gift of a decedent's body

• Democratic13
• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Gustavo Rivera says this is needed

In 2019, the legislature modernized the state's anatomical gift law through its passage of the New York Gift Act. Prior to these vital poli- cy changes, New York's anatomical gift law consisted primarily of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act's 1987 provisions. In instances when a deceased individual has not documented their decision to make an anatom- ical gift, provisions contained within the New York Gift Act created a more inclusionary prioritized list of those who may authorize an anatom- ical gift on behalf of the decedent. This legislation proposes to expand that list further and align it with the rest of the nation by including an additional authorizer to this hierarchy of decision-makers: close friends. New York is one of only seven states that do not include close friends in the classes of persons authorized to make an anatomical gift. The anatomical gift laws of 43 other states as well as that of Washington D.C. contain language allowing a close friend or equivalent to make this decision. Further, New York's Family Health Care Decisions Act recog- nizes the importance of including close friends among the surrogates authorized to make healthcare decisions on behalf of a living individ- ual. Incorporating the same class into New York's anatomical gift law is a common sense approach in circumstances where a deceased individual has not named a health care agent and has no relatives, but does have a close friend who is willing to act as a surrogate. Further, the inclu- sion of close friends as a recognized class of decision-makers provides for equitable treatment of all New Yorkers and consistent treatment of close friend relationships across public health law applications.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.