The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
H. R. No. 501 As IntroducedAs Introduced 130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
| |
Representatives Stinziano, Curtin
A RESOLUTION | To express concern over persistent and credible
reports of systematic state-sanctioned organ
harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of
conscience in the People's Republic of China.
|
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
WHEREAS, When performed in accordance with ethical standards,
the medical discipline of organ transplantation is one of the
great achievements of modern medicine. 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 free consent and
that the practice of sourcing organs from prisoners is a violation
of ethical guidelines in medicine; and |
WHEREAS, Surgeons in the People's Republic of China perform
more than 10,000 organ transplantations each year. Although
China's organ transplantation system continues to evolve, the
system does not comply with the World Health Organization's
requirement of transparency and traceability in organ procurement
pathways. The Chinese government has resisted independent scrutiny
of its system; and |
WHEREAS, In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched
an intensive nationwide persecution designed to eradicate the
spiritual practice of Falun Gong, reflecting the party's
long-standing intolerance of large independent civil society
groups. Since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong
practitioners have been detained extra-legally and many have been
tortured and abused; and |
WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of State's 2011 Country Report
on Human Rights for the People's Republic of China stated, in
part, "Overseas and domestic media and advocacy groups continued
to report instances of organ harvesting, particularly from Falun
Gong practitioners and Uighurs;" and |
WHEREAS, The U.N. Committee Against Torture and the U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Torture have expressed concern over the
allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners and have
called on the Chinese government to increase accountability and
transparency in the organ transplant system and punish those
responsible for abuses; and |
WHEREAS, In September 2012, experts testified before the U.S.
House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs that
American patients travel to the People's Republic of China for
organ transplants and that the American medical community
continues to cooperate and train with Chinese colleagues, creating
a risk that both American patients and medical community may be
indirectly aiding abusive practices; now therefore be it |
RESOLVED, That we, the members of the House of
Representatives of the 130th General Assembly of the State of
Ohio: |
-- Call on the government of the People's Republic of China
to immediately end the practice of organ harvesting from all
prisoners, particularly from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience
and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups; |
-- Call for a full and transparent investigation by the U.S.
Department of State into organ transplant practices in the
People's Republic of China, and call for the prosecution of those
found to have engaged in unethical practices; |
-- Recommend that the U.S. Department of State issue a travel
warning for American citizens traveling to the People's Republic
of China for organ transplants informing them that the organ
source for their operation may be a prisoner of conscience; |
-- Recommend that the U.S. government publicly condemn organ
transplantation abuses in China and ban the entry of those who
have participated in illegal removal of human tissues and organs
and prosecute such individuals if found on U.S. soil; |
-- Demand an immediate end to the 14-year persecution of the
Falun Gong spiritual practice by the Communist Party of China and
the immediate release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other
prisoners of conscience; and be it further |
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives send
duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the U.S. Secretary
of State, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in
Washington, D.C., the Speaker and Clerk of the U.S. House of
Representatives, the President Pro Tempore and the Secretary of
the U.S. Senate, the members of the Ohio Congressional delegation,
and the news media of Ohio. |
|
|