One of Several Procedures Available for Organ Donations
You may have already agreed to be an organ donor through the process of obtaining or renewing your motor vehicle drivers license. The Virginia DMV web site has information about how that process works, and about how eyes and other organs are obtained in the event of your death if you are a donor. (You can go to the portion of the Virginia DMV web site dealing with organ donation by clicking here.) In addition, you can fill out a donor card through LifeNet (you can visit the LifeNet web site by clicking here) and other organ donation services available in Virginia. If you are interested in supporting brain research, you might consider donating your brain to the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center. You can visit the Center’s web site by clicking here.
The “Suggested” Form Based on Section 54.1-2984: Appointing an Agent and Giving Directions on Organ Donation
This form, in Section V, sets up a two-step process regarding body and organ donations:
First - Appointment of an Agent: Your first step is to appoint an agent with the authority to make a donation of your body and/or organs “in accordance with my directions below, if any”. You can either designate the same person you identified in Section I of your Advance Directive to be your agent, or you can name a different person (and provide contact information about that person).
Second: Specific Directions: If you have specific directions for your agent regarding donation of your body and/or organs, there is space specifically set out for you to give those directions. Please Note: The language in the form for the Advance Directive is such that, if you do not place any restrictions on your agent, your agent has the authority to donate your entire body. If you want to donate organs, but not your whole body, you need to specify that in the instructions you give in this section.
“Simplified” Form Gives Broad Power to Agent
The “simplified” form developed through the VHHA (see the “Forms” page and/or “The Basics” page) does not put body and organ donation in a special section. Instead, it includes, in the list of the agent’s powers, the following power: “To donate all or part of my body for transplantation, therapy, research or education.” If you trust your agent to make the decisions that you want regarding body and organ donation, you do not need to include any additional statement. However, if you want to specifically limit your agent’s authority (for example, some people may desire that their organs be donated but want to make sure that their body is buried or cremated), you may want to insert some specific instructions in your advance directive, or in an attachment, for your agent.
Attachment to “Simplified” Form Allows You to Give Instructions to Your Agent About Organ Donation
As set out more specifically on both the “Forms” page and “The Basics” page, an attachment to the “Simplified” form is available that allows you to give specific instructions to your agent about organ donations. (The attachment also includes a “Ulysses Clause”, which is explained elsewhere in this website, on the “Agent Powers” page.) You can fill out instructions about organ donation on this attachment and ignore the Ulysses Clause, if you wish. Your agent will be bound by your instructions.
Alternative Form with More Guidance and Options
The Advance Directive form developed by Martha Jefferson Hospital and the University of Virginia Health System has modified the section on organ donation significantly. In that form, you are guided more specifically through the process of deciding what you do, and do not, wish to donate. You can review that form by going to the Martha Jefferson Hospital website. You’ll notice that the form also addresses your desires in regard to having an autopsy after your death, an issue that is not addressed in the standard Advance Directive form.
The modified version of the “simplified” form, found under Option 2 in the “Forms”section of this website, has an attachment that includes provisions for both organ donation and autopsies, like those in the Martha Jefferson Hospital form. You can go directly to that attachment by clicking here.
Your Agent Cannot Override Your Instructions on Organ Donation
Both Sections 54.1-2986.1 and 32.1-291.8 of the Virginia Code specifically prohibit your agent from taking any action that prevents or limits the anatomical gifts or the organ, tissue or eye donations that you have specified in your advance directive or in any other document (such as your drivers license). On the other hand, if you give your agent broad authority to donate your body and organs, your agent can make more gifts than you specify in your advance directive or other documents, unless you specifically limit what your agent can do.
If Your Organ Donation Documents Conflict
It’s possible that, if you’re not careful, you might set out different directions in different documents about donating your body and organs after death. Section 32.1-291.6 of the Virginia Code recognizes that you may amend or revoke any anatomical gift you have made, through a proper document. Therefore, for example, if you make an advance directive after you have made an organ donation through your drivers license, and there is a conflict between the two documents regarding organ donation, the advance directive - since it was completed later - will be treated as an amendment of your drivers license donation. Wherever there are conflicts between your organ donation documents, the terms of the most recently completed document will prevail.
(Note: Your donation through your drivers license is limited to organ and tissue donations. The Organ Donation Facts section in the Virginia DMV website emphasizes that the removal of donated tissues and organs through the drivers license authorization will not affect your body being in proper condition for an open casket funeral, if such an arrangement is your preference. The authority that you can give to your agent in your advance directive includes the donation of your body.)
Virginia Law on Body and Organ Donations
You can review Virginia’s Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (Va. Code Sections 32.1-291.1 through 32.1-291.10), on which this organ donation process is based, by clicking here.