A new bill in Massachusetts, United States, seeks to enable prisoners to donate vital organs in exchange for a reduced jail term.

The bill by Massachusetts Democrats, tagged HD 3822, permits prisoners to donate their organs or bone marrow to people in need of it. In return, they will get less jail terms, ranging from sixty days to a maximum of one year, the BBC reported.

“The Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Program shall allow eligible incarcerated individuals to gain not less than 60 and not more than 365 day reduction in the length of their committed sentence in Department of Corrections facilities, or House of Correction facilities if they are serving a Department of Correction sentence in a House of Corrections facility, on the condition that the incarcerated individual has donated bone marrow or organ(s)” the bill states.

According to reports, if this bill is passed, it will increase the “pool of donors for people of colour who struggle to get a match.”

However, the bill has been greatly thumbed down by other lawmakers who believe that the bill might be exploiting and “bargaining with vulnerable people.”

In 2007 a similar bill was passed but greatly criticised as a result of “conflicts with the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.”

In February 2021, state officials promised inmates shorter sentences if they get complete COVID-19 vaccines.