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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
A new bill introduced by Rep. Jody Barrett and Sen. Janice Bowling would allow individuals to either donate their own blood or designate a donator for use in case of a transfusion during a medical procedure or operation.
HB2166 would permit patients to utilize an “autologous blood donation”, which is a blood donation of a person’s own blood for future use, or a “directed blood donation” where the product of a blood donation is designated for use by a specific patient in advance of a planned medical procedure”.
The bill would require hospitals to comply with a physician’s order for either autologous or directed blood donations for a patient scheduled for a medical procedure and would also allow these donations to a blood bank with a physician’s order.
Both facilities would be permitted to charge a “reasonable and necessary fee” to cover any administrative costs for facilitating the donations and hospitals could reject the donations if they do not meet with established safety standards.
Barrett discussed HB2166 on a recent episode of his podcast The Woodshed, offering some context for the background and necessity of what some may think of as an unusual or niche bill.
“There is a situation now in Tennessee where if you were to expect to have a surgery in the coming weeks and you wanted to go to your hospital and say, ‘Hey, I would like to donate my own blood, a week, two weeks, whatever the case may be, ahead of that surgery, and in the event you have to give me a transfusion of blood during that surgery, I want you to put my own blood back into my body,’ there’s a situation under the law in Tennessee where hospitals are allowed to deny you that opportunity.
They can tell you, ‘No, we’re not going to put your blood back in you, we’re going to pull whatever blood we choose, whatever we pull off the blood bank,’ that is the most recent or most available or cheapest for them to buy, whatever the case may be, you don’t get that choice.
Well, with this bill, we’re going to create a statutory protection for patients in Tennessee to be able to choose what gets put into their body, whether that is your own blood or a friend or relative that you designate ahead of time to go and donate for you on your behalf. And so, we’re gonna make sure that is protected here in Tennessee.”
Both the House (HB2166) and Senate (SB1947) versions of the bill are scheduled to go before their respective committees on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
If you support this bill, use the contact information for committee members below:
House Health Subcommittee:
Rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.timothy.hill@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.sam.mckenzie@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov
Rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov; rep.ron.gant@capitol.tn.gov; rep.tim.hicks@capitol.tn.gov; rep.timothy.hill@capitol.tn.gov; rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov; rep.sam.mckenzie@capitol.tn.gov; rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov; rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov; rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov
Senate Health and Welfare Committee:
Sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov
sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov
Sen.bobby.harshbarger@capitol.tn.gov
Sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov
Sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov
Sen.shane.reeves@capitol.tn.gov
Sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov
Sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov; sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov; sen.bobby.harshbarger@capitol.tn.gov; sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov; sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov; sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov; sen.shane.reeves@capitol.tn.gov; sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
