(Washington, D.C. — May 6, 2025) ChinaAid Association, together with a coalition of other human rights organizations and individuals issued a letter urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote in favor of HR 1503, the “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025.” This bipartisan bill, introduced by Rep. Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Keating (D-MA), aims to combat the heinous crimes of forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking.
Content of the Letter
The letter emphasizes the interconnected nature of these crimes, whereby vulnerable individuals have their organs harvested under coercion or without informed consent and sold illegally. It highlights the risks faced by patients who travel abroad seeking organ transplants, who may unknowingly receive trafficked organs.
The letter states:
“In many countries, impoverished people are targeted and coerced to sell an organ from which the traffickers make a significant profit. The ‘donor’ is left without medical care and with significant health risks.”
The coalition expresses particular concern about the situation in China, citing credible reports of widespread forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other religious and ethnic minorities.
The letter pleads:
“We urge you to vote in favor of HR 1503 – the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025. Your support and passage of this legislation will ensure that the United States is combating and not complicit in the heinous practice of forced organ harvesting.”
Organizations and Individuals in support of the Letter
The letter was signed by prominent figures in the field of human rights, including:
- Susie Hughes, Executive Director, International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China
- Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President, Lantos Foundation
- Kristina Olney, Executive Director, The Remembrance Society
- Dr. Ellen Kennedy, Executive Director, World Without Genocide
- Dr. Eric Patterson, President, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
- Bob Fu, Founding President, China Aid Association (ChinaAid)
- Levi Browde, Executive Director, Falun Dafa Information Centre
- Turghunjan Alawudun, President, World Uyghur Congress
- Omer Kanat, Executive Director, Uyghur Human Rights Project
The organizations and individuals who signed the letter represent a broad coalition of advocacy voices, united in their commitment to ending the horrific practice of forced organ harvesting. They emphasized the importance of U.S. leadership in combating this global crime.
The “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025” aims to:
- Impose sanctions on those involved in organ trafficking,
- Bar individuals who participate in forced organ harvesting from entering the United States, and
- Introduces mandatory annual reporting on incidents of forced organ harvesting in foreign countries.
(Reported by Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai of ChinaAid)