Organ donation boosted by NY driver license bill

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New Yorkers getting a new driver's license may soon have to make a choice about whether to be an organ donor.

A bill that gained final legislative approval this week would no longer make consideration of organ donation optional. An applicant for a license or a renewal can currently ignore the question.

It now goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Under the measure called Lauren's Law, a New Yorker would have to sign up as an organ donor, decline to enroll, or mark "skip this question."

Senate sponsor David Carlucci a Rockland County Democrat, says New York has lagged most other states in signing up organ donors.

Lauren Shields of Stony Brook lobbied for the bill. She was 12 when she received a heart transplant in 2009.