# The SAVE Act of 2022: What It Actually Does

This bill would prevent organ transplant centers from using COVID-19 vaccination status as a factor when deciding who gets organs or who can donate them. Right now, some transplant programs require patients to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they can receive a transplant, reasoning that vaccination improves survival rates after the procedure. This bill would make that practice illegal, saying transplant centers cannot reject someone, give them lower priority on the waiting list, or treat them differently based on whether they're vaccinated against COVID-19.

The practical effect would be significant for people waiting for organ transplants. If you need a kidney, heart, liver, or other organ and you're unvaccinated, transplant centers couldn't currently deny you or put you further back in line because of your vaccination status alone. The bill essentially says that vaccination decisions are personal medical choices that shouldn't affect your eligibility for life-saving transplants. However, this doesn't mean transplant centers would have no medical requirements—they could still consider other health factors, like whether you're healthy enough to survive surgery or likely to follow post-transplant care instructions.

The bill raises a real tension in medicine. Transplant programs have traditionally required certain health measures because organs are scarce and doctors want to give them to patients most likely to survive and thrive. Vaccination requirements exist because COVID-19 can be particularly dangerous for transplant recipients, whose immune systems are weakened by anti-rejection medications. By prohibiting this requirement, the bill prioritizes individual choice over medical judgment about what gives transplant patients the best chance of success. This would affect both patients seeking transplants and the doctors and hospitals running transplant programs, potentially forcing them to make decisions differently than they believe is medically optimal.

SAVE Act of 2022

Stop Arduous Vaccine Enforcement Act of 2022 or the SAVE Act of 2022 This bill prohibits transplant centers from discriminating against an individual on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status for purposes of determining eligibility or assigning priority for organ transplants.