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PRINTER'S NO. 23
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
27
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY BAKER, JAMES, READSHAW, GAINEY, MURT, PICKETT,
PHILLIPS-HILL, MILLARD, GODSHALL, CALTAGIRONE, WARD,
SCHLOSSBERG, TOEPEL, KAUFFMAN AND HEFFLEY, JANUARY 23, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, JANUARY 23, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Encouraging the medical community of this Commonwealth to help
raise awareness of unethical organ transplant practices in
China.
WHEREAS, Falun Gong is a spiritual practice with key values
of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance for achieving
physical and spiritual well-being through exercise and
meditation; and
WHEREAS, Since July 1999, Falun Gong practitioners have been
persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party, as documented by the
United States Department of State, the United States Commission
on International Religious Freedom, Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch and many other governmental and third-party
organizations; and
WHEREAS, Persecution of Falun Gong practitioners involves the
widespread use of torture, forced labor work, brainwashing and
other abuses in extralegal reeducation-through-labor camps,
detention centers and prisons; and
WHEREAS, Prisoners are forced to undergo medical exams, blood
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testing, urine testing and x-rays, despite being tortured; and
WHEREAS, The organ transplantation system in China does not
comply with the World Health Organization's requirement of
transparency and traceability in organ procurement pathways; and
WHEREAS, The People's Republic of China implemented
regulations in 1984 that permitted the harvesting of organs from
executed prisoners; and
WHEREAS, Former Vice Minister of Health, Huang Jiefu,
admitted publicly that more than 90% of transplant organs
extracted from deceased donors stemmed from executed prisoners
in China; and
WHEREAS, Organs were forcibly harvested from Falun Gong
practitioners in detention centers and prisons without
voluntary and informed consent; and
WHEREAS, It is estimated that since 1999, more than 1 million
Falun Gong practitioners have been detained and that
approximately 65,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed
for their organs; and
WHEREAS, Hospitals receive organs from these prisons and the
harvested organs are then used for transplants; and
WHEREAS, Recipients for these transplants are Chinese or
individuals from abroad, including United States citizens; and
WHEREAS, The Government of the People's Republic of China
continues to deny reports that many organs are taken without the
consent of prisoners, yet prevents independent verification of
its transplant system; and
WHEREAS, In June 2001, Chinese doctor Wang Guoqi testified
before the United States House of Representatives International
Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Human
Rights that hospitals work in collusion with state security
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agencies to extract organs from executed prisoners without
written consent of the organ donors and that these transplants
were a lucrative source of income; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of State, in its 2011
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices stated, "Overseas and
domestic media and advocacy groups continued to report instances
of organ harvesting, particularly from Falun Gong practitioners
and Uighurs"; and
WHEREAS, In May 2012, the World Organization to Investigate
the Persecution of Falun Gong released telephone transcripts and
audio recordings of conversations between undercover
investigators and senior Chinese Communist Party officials, in
which several officials indicated that central authorities were
aware of or involved in organ harvesting from Falun Gong
prisoners; and
WHEREAS, Voluntary and informed consent is the precondition
for ethical organ donation and international medical
organizations state that prisoners deprived of their freedom are
not in the position to give consent; and
WHEREAS, The practice of sourcing organs from prisoners is a
violation of ethical guidelines in medicine; and
WHEREAS, The killing of prisoners for the purpose of selling
their organs for transplant is an intolerable violation of the
fundamental right to life; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives call upon the
Government of the People's Republic of China to immediately end
the practice of forced organ harvesting from all prisoners,
particularly from Falun Gong prisoners and members of other
religious and ethnic minority groups; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives call upon the
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Government of the People's Republic of China to increase
accountability and transparency in the organ transplant system
and punish those responsible for abuses; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the United
States Government to commence a full and transparent
investigation into organ transplant practices in the People's
Republic of China; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives call upon the
United States Government to prohibit any doctors involved in
unethical organ procurement or transplantation surgery using
organs harvested from living prisoners in China from gaining
entry into the United States; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage the
medical community of this Commonwealth to help raise awareness
of unethical organ transplant practices in China.
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