California First To Create Kidney Donor Registry

PALO ALTO (KCBS) - California is now the first state in the nation to create a kidney donor registry as the legislation was signed into law on Tuesday by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Under the new law, the Department of Motor Vehicles is required to ask drivers if they want to be an organ donor by checking a special box, instead of filling out a separate form.

"The legislation we are celebrating today will bring the promise of life-saving transplants closer within reach of all Californians," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "Organ donation is one of the kindest, most generous and most powerful actions that each and every one of us can take."

KCBS Mike Colgan Reporting:

Among the guests at the ceremony held at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital was Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who received a liver transplant last year.

Jobs said this new law is good for everyone.

"The donor's family knows that they're loved one is making it possible for others to live," said Jobs. "The really talented surgeons and the hospitals can save the lives they've trained to save. The donor recipients are given the gift of an extended life."

Right now, there are more than a hundred thousand people in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant, including more than 21,000 Californians.

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