State Rep. Jamie Thompson today voted in favor of a plan that provides a new way to sign up for the state’s organ donor registry and supply people with life-saving treatment.

Currently, people may choose to be organ donors through their driver’s license or state ID card, a will, a formal donor card or verbally with at least two individuals during a terminal illness or injury. House Bills 4362-64 will create space on the state income tax form where individuals can register.

As of January, there were more than 104,000 people on the national organ transplant waiting list. This number includes about 2,500 people living in Michigan. In addition, approximately 16,000 people in Michigan are on dialysis, and many would benefit from a kidney transplant in order to have a better quality of life.

“These bills provide the beautiful gift of life,” Thompson said. “As a nurse, I have sat at people’s bedsides and I have felt their pain and the pain of their families as they wait for a transplant that they need and don’t know if they will get. Some people will continue to wait and that organ will never come.

“As a nurse, I care very much about this. I support this plan because I believe if even one person chooses to sign up, we are giving the beautiful gift of life to one person who is out there waiting,” Thompson said.

If the bills become law, Michigan would be the first state in the country to offer the sign-up option on a state income tax form.

HBs 4362-64 now move to the Senate for consideration after receiving overwhelming bipartisan support.

PHOTO INFORMATION: State Rep. Jamie Thompson, of Brownstown, speaks in support of House Bills 4362-64 before the Michigan House on Thursday, May 11. The bills allow for people to sign up for the state’s organ donor registry on a state income tax form.