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SENATE BILL 5575
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Passed Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995
Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/26/95. Referred to Committee
on Health & Long‑Term Care.
Allowing persons at least sixteen
years of age to make anatomical gifts if a parent or guardian signs the
document of gift.
AN ACT Relating to
anatomical gift by persons under the age of eighteen; and amending RCW
68.50.540.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 68.50.540 and 1993 c
228 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) An individual who
is at least eighteen years of age, or an individual who is at least sixteen
years of age as provided in subsection (12) of this section, may (a) make
an anatomical gift for any of the purposes stated in RCW 68.50.570(1), (b)
limit an anatomical gift to one or more of those purposes, or (c) refuse to
make an anatomical gift.
(2) An anatomical gift
may be made by a document of gift signed by the donor. If the donor cannot
sign, the document of gift must be signed by another individual and by two
witnesses, all of whom have signed at the direction and in the presence of the
donor and of each other and state that it has been so signed.
(3) If a document of
gift is attached to or imprinted on a donor's motor vehicle operator's license,
the document of gift must comply with subsection (2) of this section.
Revocation, suspension, expiration, or cancellation of the license does not
invalidate the anatomical gift.
(4) The donee or other
person authorized to accept the anatomical gift may employ or authorize a
physician, surgeon, technician, or enucleator to carry out the appropriate
procedures.
(5) An anatomical gift
by will takes effect upon death of the testator, whether or not the will is
probated. If, after death, the will is declared invalid for testamentary
purposes, the validity of the anatomical gift is unaffected.
(6) A donor may amend
or revoke an anatomical gift, not made by will, by:
(a) A signed statement;
(b) An oral statement
made in the presence of two individuals;
(c) Any form of
communication during a terminal illness or injury; or
(d) The delivery of a
signed statement to a specified donee to whom a document of gift had been
delivered.
(7) The donor of an
anatomical gift made by will may amend or revoke the gift in the manner
provided for amendment or revocation of wills, or as provided in subsection (6)
of this section.
(8) An anatomical gift
that is not revoked by the donor before death is irrevocable and does not
require the consent or concurrence of a person after the donor's death.
(9) An individual may
refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part by (a) a
writing signed in the same manner as a document of gift, (b) a statement
attached to or imprinted on a donor's motor vehicle operator's license, or (c)
another writing used to identify the individual as refusing to make an
anatomical gift. During a terminal illness or injury, the refusal may be an
oral statement or other form of communication.
(10) In the absence of
contrary indications by the donor, an anatomical gift of a part is neither a
refusal to give other parts nor a limitation on an anatomical gift under RCW
68.50.550.
(11) In the absence of
contrary indications by the donor, a revocation or amendment of an anatomical
gift is not a refusal to make another anatomical gift. If the donor intends a
revocation to be a refusal to make an anatomical gift, the donor shall make the
refusal pursuant to subsection (9) of this section.
(12) An
individual who is under the age of eighteen, but is at least sixteen years of
age, may make an anatomical gift as provided by subsection (2) of this section,
if the document of gift is also signed by either parent or a guardian of the
donor. A document of gift signed by a donor under the age of eighteen that is
not signed by either parent or a guardian shall not be considered valid until
the person reaches the age of eighteen, but may be considered as evidence that
the donor has not refused permission to make an anatomical gift under the
provisions of RCW 68.50.550.
