This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A bill that would streamline the process for prisoners to sign up as organ donors passed unanimously Wednesday in the Utah House of Representatives.

Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, pitched HB26 in response to prisoners who wanted to be donors upon their deaths, but were being rejected. The proposal would allow them to sign up as donors while in the correctional facility.

"It [would be] completely voluntary," Eliason said.

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are 116,920 people on the waiting list nationally for organs and more than 25,000 in need throughout the Intermountain West states — including Utah.

The bill passed 73-0.

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