Illinois' first-person registry increases organ donations

SPRINGFIELD -- Organ and tissue donation has increased by 20 percent in Illinois since the state's first-person donor registry became law in 2006.

The Secretary of State's office says that makes Illinois' donor registry the largest in the country.

IllinoisÂ' first-person consent law mean's a personÂ's decision to donate organs is legally binding. Donation decisions previously had been up to a deceased person's next-of-kin.

Officials say almost 6 million people have registered in either the first-person consent donor registry or its predecessor.

Gift of Hope, which coordinates the organ- and tissue-recovery process, says 59 out of 268 organ donors came from the first-person consent registry last year.