The Heart of the Discrimination Problem: Insufficient State Protection for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities In the Organ Transplant Process

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to face discrimination in the organ transplant process despite federal laws prohibiting such discrimination. Some states have passed legislation specifically prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all aspects of the organ transplant process. However, such laws are not yet effective in practice. States' adoption of laws prohibiting such discrimination is a step in the right direction. The current laws stand merely as a symbolic gesture rather than as a genuine shield against discrimination. This Note identifies the shortcomings of current state statutes and makes recommendations on how to improve future and current state statutes.

Automated summary

Despite federal laws prohibiting discrimination against people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the organ transplant process, they still face discrimination in practice. While some states have passed legislation to prohibit such discrimination, these laws are not yet effectively implemented. Improvements are needed in current state statutes to protect people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from discrimination.