ALBANY (AP) -- A new law allows New Yorkers to register online as potential organ donors instead of having to do it by mail.
The so-called Electronic Signature Act signed by Gov. David Paterson eliminates the need to download a consent form from the state Health Department and mail it back.
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who chairs the Assembly Health Committee, says this should make registration easier to posthumously donate organs, increase those available for transplant and help save people now dying while they wait for a heart, lung, kidney or other organ.
Related bills to make New York the first state that presumes residents want to donate organs unless they specifically say otherwise were introduced this year but have not advanced in the Legislature.
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