Reps. Gleason, Accavitti, Acciavatti, Adamini, Bieda, Brown, Byrum, Clack, Condino, Dillon, Garfield, Gillard, Gonzales, Gosselin, Green, Hildenbrand, Hopgood, Kooiman, LaJoy, Lemmons, III, Lemmons, Jr., Lipsey, Mayes, McConico, Mortimer, Nitz, Pavlov, Pearce, Phillips, Polidori, Robertson, Sak, Shaffer, Stahl, Stakoe, Tobocman, Vagnozzi, Vander Veen, Wojno, Zelenko, Ball, Proos, Spade and Caul offered the following resolution:

House Resolution No. 46.

A resolution recognizing April 2005 as Donate Life Month in the state of Michigan.

Whereas, More than 2,400 Michigan Residents are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ donation, and ten will die each month due to the serious lack of organ donors; and

Whereas, The state of Michigan's organ donor rate lags behind the national average; and

Whereas, The need for organ, tissue, and eye donations grows daily.  The critical donor shortage remains a public health emergency; and

Whereas, The people in Michigan most severely affected by chronic kidney disease include over 10,000 receiving dialysis treatments, almost 5,000 living with a kidney transplant, and over 2,000 who are waiting for a kidney transplant; and

Whereas, Chronic kidney disease is a major public health burden.  It is projected to cost the National Health System of $20 billion by 2010; and

Whereas, It is more cost effective to transplant a donated kidney than to treat the symptoms of kidney failure for an extended period of time; and

Whereas, Organ, tissue, and eye donation can provide families that are tragically confronted by the death of a loved one, the comfort of knowing the gift of donated organs and tissues endows another person with renewed hope for a healthy life; and

Whereas, Giving the gift of life through organ, tissue, and eye donation to someone facing imminent death or living with blindness or a disability is the ultimate act of generosity and kindness; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body recognize April 2005 as Donate Life Month in the state of Michigan. We encourage families to engage in discussions about the wishes of their loved ones regarding organ donation and that we spread organ donation awareness throughout our great state.