SPONSOR:	Rep. Buckworth & Rep. Ewing & Rep. Hudson & Sen. McBride & Sen. Still;
	Reps. Spence, Carey, DiPinto, Oberle, Ulbrich, Valihura, Wagner, Keeley, Plant, Schooley, Viola, Williams

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

143rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 177

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPERM BANK AND TISSUE BANK REGISTRY.

Section 1. Amend § 2801 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code by deleting Sections (c) and (d) and replacing thereto as follows:

“(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), no person may intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently use the semen, corneas, bones, organs, or other human tissue of a donor unless the requirements of subsection (b) have been met. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), no person may intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently use the semen, corneas, bones, organs, or other human tissue of a donor who has tested positive for exposure to HIV or any other identified causative agent of AIDS. Violation of this subsection (c) shall be a Class E felony.

(d) It is not a violation of this Section for a person to perform a solid organ transplant of an organ from an HIV infected donor to a person who has tested positive for exposure to HIV or any other identified causative agent of AIDS and who is in immediate threat of death unless the transplant is performed. A tissue bank that provides an organ from an HIV infected donor under this subsection (d) may not be criminally or civilly liable for the furnishing of that organ under this subsection (d).

(e) For the purposes of this Section:

‘Human tissue’ shall not be construed to mean whole blood or its component parts.

‘Tissue bank’ means any facility or program that is involved in procuring, furnishing, donating, processing, or distributing corneas, bones, organs, or other human tissue for the purpose of injecting, transfusing, or transplanting any of them in the human body.

‘Solid organ transplant’ means the surgical transplantation of internal organs including, but not limited to the liver, kidney, pancreas, lungs, or heart. ‘Solid organ transplant’ does not mean a bone marrow based transplant or a blood transfusion.

‘HIV infected donor’ means a deceased donor who was infected with HIV or a living donor known to be infected with HIV and who is willing to donate a part or all of one or more of his or her organs. A determination of the donor’s HIV infection is made by the donor’s medical history or by specific tests that document HIV infection, such as HIV RNA or DNA, or by antibodies to HIV.