Madison – Today, State Representative Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) proposed legislation in support of the people of Wisconsin who qualify for organ transplantation.
The organ donation / transplantation process is complex and stressful for patients and their families. Due to the shortage of organs that are suitable for donation, roughly half of the people on the waiting list will receive an organ within five years. In addition to the daily struggles of dealing with a chronic illness, transplant hopefuls have diligently prepared medically, practically, and financially for the event.
What is unusually cruel is to expect a patient and their family to successfully jump through the hoops required by the transplant program only to be refused treatment due to vaccination status. Adding insult to injury, transplant patients have been heartlessly removed from transplant waiting lists due to vaccination status.
Transplant recipients and organ donors have the same expectation to exercise their right of personal conviction over bodily autonomy, religious beliefs, and scientific grounds as everyone else. “This legislation returns dignity to the people who are waiting for a kidney, liver or lung and reminds us that discriminating against a person with a chronic illness is especially despicable,” said Rep. Goeben.
