Effective October 1, 2010, Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer and fellow Republicans cut funding for certain transplant programs under the state’s Medicaid program, leaving patients in need of life-saving transplants in the lurch. Without funding, many people won’t be able to afford the costly bone marrow and organ transplants that they need. The decision, say some doctors, amounts to a death sentence. Despite pleas by legislators, health care professionals and patients, Brewer has refused to reinstate the program, even though it is immediately putting people's lives at risk. She feels that “we can only provide so many optional kinds of care and those are one of the options that we had to take,” not realizing that for a person in need of an organ transplant, the decision is not optional. It’s life or death. There are numerous other areas to trim the budget, yet Brewer has refused to hold a special session to restore the funding for the program. While she stands by her decision to cut the financing, patients are losing critical time. Tell Jan Brewer to reinstate the $1.4 million in funding for the organ transplant program and prevent “death by budget cuts.”