In the near future, I will be introducing legislation to allow an individual who is scheduled to undergo a medical procedure to receive an autologous or direct allogenic blood transfusion for that procedure.
 
Autologous blood donations are when an individual donates their own blood for their own future use, and direct allogenic blood donations are when a patient’s ABO and Rh compatible family members and/or friends donate blood for the patient's upcoming procedure.
 
Specified donations are not a new practice. While both autologous and direct allogenic blood transfusions occur in the Commonwealth, it is not a common practice available to all patients. Typically, they only occur in specific circumstances such as the patient having a rare blood type.
 
Patients should be able to use their own blood or designate a donor for routine procedures, and hospitals and other healthcare institutions should honor those decisions.
 
This legislation is a companion bill to House Bill 1997 introduced by Representative Fink.
 
I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.