House Lawmakers Introduce Bill Targeting Federal Reimbursement for Organs Transplants Linked to China 👉 Updatem News

‘The Chinese Communist Party has a long track record of human rights violations stemming from illegal organ harvesting,’ Rep. Neal Dunn says.

A group of House Republicans has introduced legislation to ensure that Americans are not unknowingly complicit in Beijing’s systematic forced organ harvesting targeting prisoners of conscience.

Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), who sits on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, introduced the Block Organ Transplant Purchases from China Act (H.R.2114) on March 14. The bill, also known as the BLOCK Act, is cosponsored by two other committee members, committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.).

“The Chinese Communist Party has a long track record of human rights violations stemming from illegal organ harvesting in their own country,” Dunn said in a statement. “Communist Party authorities regularly target Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in China for this barbaric practice.

“The United States must do everything in its power to ensure that we are not participating in illegal Chinese organ harvesting.”

Dunn said the legislation “is an important step toward ensuring that healthcare providers are not complicit in this atrocity and hold anyone who knowingly participates in this practice accountable.”

The legislation seeks to bar federal reimbursement for organ transplants and related medical services if the transplanted organs cannot be confirmed as sourced from an entity participating in the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

The OPTN, a public-private partnership established under the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984, connects all professionals involved in the donation and transplantation system in the United States. It is operated under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. OPTN members include hospitals, organ procurement organizations, medical and scientific organizations, and individuals.

According to OPTN data, the total number of transplants performed in the United States in 2024 was 48,149, with organ contributions from 16,988 deceased donors and 7,030 living donors.

“The BLOCK Act is a critical step in ensuring that no federal funds are used to support the illegal and inhumane procurement of organs tied to China’s brutal, state-sponsored campaign,” Moolenaar said in a statement.

“As we confront this horrific abuse, the United States must send a clear message: we will not be complicit in this appalling crime. Americans who participate in this violation of human rights will face severe penalties.”

The BLOCK Act would establish civil penalties for health care providers who knowingly participate in banned organ transplants.

According to the bill, the civil penalty may “equal to three times the cost” of the banned organ transplant or service. Additionally, the legislation provides a criminal penalty of up to two years in prison.

Texas, Utah, and Idaho have enacted laws to prevent insurance companies from covering transplant surgeries connected with China. Arizona is currently pushing for similar legislation.

The CCP has used its organ bank to turn China into a top destination for transplant tourism because Chinese hospitals often offer short waiting times for matching organs for patients, much faster than developed countries with established organ donation systems.

In a statement, Bilirakis said there is “overwhelming evidence that China has systemically targeted ethnic and religious minorities for forcibly acquired organ donation.”

“We cannot remain silent in the face of these gross human rights violations and perpetuate the practice by offering a marketplace for the ill-gotten organs.”

Forced Organ Harvesting in China

In 2019, the independent China Tribunal in London concluded that the Chinese regime had been forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience for years “on a substantial scale,” with Falun Gong practitioners being the “principal source” of human organs.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline based on the moral teachings of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The discipline became a target for elimination in July 1999, when the CCP began detaining practitioners inside prisons, labor camps, and other facilities.

The ongoing persecution in China has resulted in hundreds of thousands tortured while incarcerated and untold numbers killed, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

A 2022 study published in the American Journal of Transplantation said 348 medical professionals or researchers had been acting as “executioners,” who were coauthors of 71 Chinese-language papers showing that they had carved out hearts and lungs from people for transplant without first conducting a test to establish brain death.

Bilirakis has cosponsored the Falun Gong Protection Act, which would mandate sanctions on any individual the U.S. president determines as a knowing participant or facilitator of the Chinese regime’s forced organ harvesting.

The legislation was reintroduced earlier this year in both the House (H.R.1540) and the Senate (S.817). A version of the protection act passed the House last June but stalled in the Senate.

In a statement after the bill was introduced, Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, urged Congress to “pass it without delay.”

“This legislation isn’t just about Falun Gong—it’s about standing up for justice and human dignity and protecting the lives of all prisoners subject to organ harvesting in China,” Browde said.

“With this bill’s reintroduction, Congress is reaffirming its commitment to religious freedom and human rights.”

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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