Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed legislation to ensure that residents of Idaho do not unknowingly become complicit in the brutal crime of forced organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party.
Effective July 1st, in Idaho, it will be deemed illegal for health insurance companies to cover organ transplants or post-transplant care performed in China or any other known country involved in forced organ harvesting. This legislation, which had previously passed unanimously in both chambers of the state legislature, was signed by Governor Little on April 10th.
Furthermore, this new law also prohibits medical and research institutions in Idaho from using genetic sequencing machines or software from foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist regime.
Idaho is not the first state to take a stand against forced organ harvesting by the Chinese government. Texas was the first to enact such laws, followed by Utah, where similar legislation will come into effect on May 1st. Texas’ law has been in effect since September 1, 2023.
For over a decade, China has been a preferred destination for organ transplant tourism. Unlike developed countries with public organ donation programs, the wait times for organs in Chinese hospitals are significantly shorter.
Chinese hospitals have been able to provide organs on demand to paying customers due to the establishment of a live organ bank by the Communist regime. In 2019, the Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China in London concluded that the Chinese Communist Party has been “massively” harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience, with detained Falun Gong practitioners being a “principal source” of organs.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that emerged in China in 1992, advocating principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. By 1999, official estimates suggested that 70 to 100 million people in China were practicing Falun Gong.
The popularity of Falun Gong among the masses instilled fear in the Chinese Communist Party, leading to a brutal crackdown in July 1999 aimed at eradicating the practice. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, for over 24 years, millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained in prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands subjected to torture during their confinement.
A report from Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that tracks persecution in China, documented 209 new cases of Falun Gong practitioners who died as a result of persecution in 2023. This included the case of Pang Xun, a 30-year-old radio host who reportedly died from beatings in prison in December 2022.
Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH), a Washington-based non-profit organization nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, highlighted in their 2023 report that the Chinese authorities deliberately conceal information about their organ transplant industry.
The report stated, “The lack of transparency and traceability is part of the strategy employed by China (the CCP) to cover up and hide.”
“It is difficult to ascertain the actual number of Falun Gong practitioners killed for their organs while in custody. Estimates suggest that between 50,000 to 100,000 Falun Gong members are killed annually for organ harvesting; although this number may seem inconceivable, the actual figure could be even higher,” the report continued.
DAFOH’s report also included testimonials from family members of victims of forced organ harvesting, including Jiang Li and Han Yu.
Congress members in the United States have been actively campaigning to put an end to forced organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party.
In March 2023, the House of Representatives passed a landmark bill (H.R. 1154) that would sanction all individuals involved in forced organ harvesting and require the government to report on such activities occurring abroad annually. While the Senate version of the bill (S.761) has been introduced since 2023, it has yet to be approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, urged the Senate to discuss the legislation on X (formerly Twitter) in March this year.
“A year ago, after the passage of the ‘Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act’ (H.R.1154) in the House of Representatives, it was sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,” Browde wrote, tagging the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin and the ranking Republican member James Risch.
“Let’s continue to push for action against forced organ harvesting,” he urged.