Bill Text: TX SR627 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Condemning the systematic, state-sanctioned harvesting of organs from prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (N/A - Dead) 2019-04-29 - Referred to State Affairs [SR627 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SR627-Introduced.html
86R11759 GM-F | ||
By: Paxton | S.R. No. 627 |
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WHEREAS, Extensive and credible reports have revealed the | ||
systematic, state-sanctioned harvesting of organs from prisoners | ||
of conscience in the People's Republic of China; and | ||
WHEREAS, An article in the Wall Street Journal on February 5, | ||
2019, entitled "The Nightmare of Human Organ Harvesting in China" | ||
states that an independent tribunal led by Sir Geoffrey Nice, who | ||
prosecuted Slobodan Milosevic, concluded in December of 2018 that | ||
"in China, forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has | ||
been practiced for a substantial period of time, involving a very | ||
substantial number of victims"; and | ||
WHEREAS, These reports describe a large-scale, | ||
state-directed organ transplant system, and Falun Gong | ||
practitioners in custody face the greatest risk of being killed for | ||
their organs; and | ||
WHEREAS, Involving meditative exercises and centered on the | ||
values of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, the spiritual | ||
practice of Falun Gong gained many followers in China in the 1990s; | ||
in 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an intensive | ||
nationwide campaign to eradicate the practice, and this persecution | ||
resulted in the detainment of hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong | ||
practitioners in Chinese reeducation-through-labor camps, | ||
detention centers, and prisons; and | ||
WHEREAS, A 2015 Freedom House report found that Falun Gong | ||
practitioners comprise the largest portion of prisoners of | ||
conscience in China and face an elevated risk of dying or being | ||
killed in custody; and | ||
WHEREAS, China's organ transplant system abounds with | ||
evidence of misconduct; for example, Chinese custom requires bodies | ||
to be preserved intact after death, making voluntary organ donation | ||
rare; however, China's transplant industry has increased | ||
significantly since 2000; similarly, wait times for emergency liver | ||
transplants in China are quoted in days or hours, and the wait times | ||
for nonemergency liver transplants are quoted in weeks; most | ||
patients in other countries wait years for a liver transplant; and | ||
WHEREAS, While refusing to acknowledge the harvesting of | ||
organs from prisoners of conscience, the Chinese government has | ||
acknowledged the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners; and | ||
WHEREAS, China's unethical and illegal organ procurement | ||
practices do not comply with the World Health Organization's | ||
guidelines for organ procurement, and those who travel to China for | ||
organ transplants should be aware that organs have been harvested | ||
from prisoners of conscience; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Texas Penal Code Title 10, Section 48.02, | ||
prohibits the purchase and sale of human organs, but unfortunately | ||
there are no laws protecting those who unwittingly turn to China's | ||
criminal medical tourism to save their lives; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 86th Texas Legislature | ||
hereby condemn the systematic, state-sanctioned harvesting of | ||
organs from prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of | ||
China. |