What This Statute Says
The Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (RUAGA) is the foundation of organ, tissue, and body donation in Arizona. Section 36-841 defines the vocabulary.
"Anatomical gift" means a donation of all or part of a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research or education.
"Document of gift" means a donor card or other record used to make an anatomical gift. The term includes a statement or symbol on a driver license, identification card or donor registry.
"Donor" means an individual whose body or part is the subject of an anatomical gift.
"Procurement organization" means an eye bank, organ procurement organization or tissue bank.
"Disinterested witness" means a witness other than the spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent or guardian of the individual who makes, amends, revokes or refuses to make an anatomical gift.
The statute also defines "agent" (someone authorized by a healthcare power of attorney or signed record to make an anatomical gift on the donor's behalf), "auxiliary aids and services" (anti-discrimination protections incorporated from federal disability law), and "decedent" (which includes a stillborn infant and, subject to other law, a fetus).
When This Statute Comes Into Play
The definitions become operative every time someone uses the rest of the article. A "donor card" is a document of gift. A driver-license donor symbol is a document of gift. A registered donation in the state donor registry is a document of gift. The legal weight is the same.
What This Means for Arizona Families
This statute looks like a glossary but it carries real weight. The breadth of "document of gift" means that the simple check-box on your driver's license is a legally binding anatomical gift in Arizona. So is a notation on your healthcare power of attorney. So is registration on the donor registry. Each is independently sufficient.
The "disinterested witness" definition matters because the article often requires two adult witnesses, at least one of whom is disinterested. The exclusion list is family members and the guardian, which means a neighbor, friend, attorney, or healthcare professional can serve as the disinterested witness. Our FAQ on making organ-donation wishes legally binding in Arizona walks through the practical steps. Pairing a donor-registry entry with a clear statement in your healthcare directive creates redundancy that survives any single document being lost.