(Minghui.org)

MAINE LEGISLATURE PASSES JOINT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE END OF FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

From the Maine State House: Left to right; Senator Robert Foley (co-sponsor), Representative Roberts-Lovell (co-sponsor), two Maine practitioners, Senator Mark Lawrence (sponsor)

The Maine legislature passed Joint Resolution S.P. 574 on May 7, 2019, expressing support for ending forced organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China.

The resolution states that there exists mass killing of prisoners of conscience in China, including from large numbers of practitioners of the Chinese spiritual practice Falun Gong, in order to obtain organs for transplants.

The organ transplantation system in China does not comply with the World Health Organization’s Guiding Principles On Human Organ Transplantation regarding traceability and transparency in organ procurement pathways, and the Chinese government has resisted independent scrutiny of the system.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on Torture have called for increased accountability and transparency in China’s organ transplantation system and punishment for those responsible for abuse.

Moreover, in 2016, the U.S. Congress passed H.Res.343 – “Expressing concern regarding persistent and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners and members of other religious and minority groups.”

Ten State legislatures in the United States have passed similar resolutions condemning the ongoing state-sanctioned crime of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China.

The resolution also encourages the medical community in the State of Maine to educate its citizens about the risks of travel to China for organ transplants to prevent them from unwittingly becoming involved in murder in the form of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.

The resolution was sponsored by Senator Mark Lawrence and co-sponsored by Senator Robert Foley and Representative Tiffany Roberts-Lovell.

SP0547, 129th Maine State Legislature - JOINT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE END OF FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA