The UK’s new opportunity to combat organ harvesting
From Freedom United
| We recently reached out to you about our new campaign to stop forced organ harvesting – a form of modern slavery in which victims have their organs forcibly removed, sold onto the black market and used in illegal organ transplants. The culprits can even be authoritarian states, killing political prisoners and ethnic and religious minorities such as in China where Uyghurs and Falun Gong practitioners are killed for their organs. In just a few days, the UK parliament’s upper house – the House of Lords – has an opportunity to address this crime by supporting an amendment to legislation that would require full traceability of human tissue that makes its way into the UK healthcare system. The UK’s national health service (NHS) has continued to work tirelessly over the course of the pandemic providing a level of care that many in the UK feel privileged to be able to access, no matter their income. Now, we have an opportunity to assure the NHS that it won’t have to worry about the risk of human tissue, forcibly taken from organ harvesting victims, playing any part in their life-saving work. We’re enthusiastically backing this change and need your support to drum up support for the bill amendment. |
| Add your support to the campaign |
| Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Baroness Finlay of Lladaff are backing an amendment to the Medicine and Medical Devices Bill to cover forced organ harvesting, ensuring that organs and human tissue from foreign countries are not sourced unethically or illegally.[1] The bill is due to have its second reading in the House of Commons on September 2. By signing today, you can show that the public is firmly behind tackling forced organ harvesting and won’t stand for it tainting the UK health system. Under current UK legislation, Marie Rimmer (Labour MP for St Helens South and Whiston) notes that “importing of human body tissue for medical research does not require any consent or traceability – it is only advised, not required.”Simply put, human tissue and organs can be imported into the UK from countries like China without “traceability, documentation or consent.”[2] Rimmer, who introduced the amendment to the bill in the House of Commons, stresses that: |
| “Without my amendment, we have no assurance that harvested organs cannot find their way into our national health service. Although the legislation and regulations provide guidance, it is just that: guidance. Why should we not want to make it clear that harvested organs will not find their way into this country?”[3] |
| An international tribunal in London recently found that “Forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale,” calling the crimes “of unmatched wickedness.”[4] China admitted that it has harvested organs from prisoners, yet claimed it would phase out the practice. We have strong reason to believe otherwise; an analysis of China’s organ donation system revealed “highly compelling evidence [the numbers] are being falsified” and that tracking the sources of organs in the country remains difficult.[5] By enacting this amendment to the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill to address forced organ harvesting, the UK can take a step towards joining its peers in stopping this international crime. To date, South Korea, Belgium, Norway, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, and Israel have all passed domestic legislation to help put an end to forced organ harvesting, organ transplant tourism, and organ trafficking.[6] Add your name today to the campaign to end forced organ harvesting and take a bold, firm stance calling on the UK – and all countries around the world – to wake up to this problem and close legal loopholes that allow the crime to persist. In solidarity, Miriam and the Freedom United team |
[1] https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2019-21/medicinesandmedicaldevices.html
[2] Ibid.
[3] https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-06-23/debates/EA598F76-B5FD-42C7-8B71-3B5EA8B3950D/MedicinesAndMedicalDevicesBill
[4] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-forcefully-harvests-organs-detainees-tribunal-concludes-n1018646
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/chinese-government-may-have-falsified-organ-donation-numbers-study-says
[6] https://endtransplantabuse.org/legislation/
