EDITORIAL: Gracie’s Legislation for Georgia |  Ga Fl information

Gracie’s law is right for Georgia.

All forms of discrimination are wrong.

It is inconceivable that discrimination against people with disabilities could cost them their lives.

Gracie law, passed by the General Assembly, makes it a criminal offense to withhold potentially life-saving organ donations from people with disabilities.

The measure protects organ access for Georgians regardless of the physical or cognitive challenges they face.

The bill was sponsored by Milledgeville Republican MP Rick Williams and it just hit the bill.

It provides a way through the lower courts for families who believe a health care provider is discriminating against a disabled family member in need of an organ transplant.

The bill was named after Gracie Joy Nobles, who was born with Down syndrome and has a heart defect.

Her mother, Erin Nobles, told the Valdosta Daily Times the new law will save lives for her 2-year-old daughter.

The measure, which is under preparation for two years, does not prioritize people with disabilities or move them to the top of the transplant list, but it does mean that they cannot be legally punished just for having a disability.

When the law goes into effect, no one can legally refuse to put a disabled child on a list for an organ.

Gwinnett Republican Senator Clint Dixon, who sponsored the Senate bill, said, “That ends the discrimination. It shows that we value every life and align ourselves with the values ​​that we strive for as a state. “

Gracie Act also fixes another little-known practice and prevents a provider from placing a “do not resuscitate” patient on a disabled patient without parental consent.

This addendum was triggered by the case of Simon Crosier, a 3-month-old child from Missouri, who died in 2017 after a doctor ordered the child’s medical record to “do not resuscitate”, shocking the parents.

This law is designed to put an end to such nightmares.

The legislature in our state should equally commit to ending all forms of discrimination.