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Forced Organ Harvesting: Overseas Patients Flocking to China for Transplants

Legislation to curb transplant tourists receiving illicit organs can have a big impact, says rights lawyer

China’s organ transplant industry grew exponentially in the early 2000s and today, China is the go-to country for transplant tourists from around the world. Despite the fact that organ donation is minimal in China, organs are plentiful, and the wait-times range between a few days and two months—something out of the question in any other country. Furthermore, patients have reported that their transplant surgeries were scheduled ahead of time. The stark reality of what this means was brought home to Israeli heart transplant surgeon Dr. Jacob Lavee in 2005, when a patient told him he was going to China for a heart transplant and the operation was already scheduled for a specific date. Realizing that this could only be the result of forced organ harvesting, Dr. Lavee spearheaded the crafting of Israel’s Organ Transplant Law which came into effect in 2008, essentially banning the purchase and sale of human organs. The move has had a significant impact in reducing transplant tourism to China from Israel, according to testimony at a committee hearing on Parliament Hill on Feb. 26. The hearing was related to similar legislation in the works in Canada. The private member’s bill will be discussed again by the committee on Feb. 27.

A report by Organs Watch, an organization based at the University of California, identified transplant tourists from Canada as among the top organ-buyers in the world. Dr. Jeff Zaltzman, the head of renal transplants at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, has said that at least 50 of his patients have gone to China for transplants.

“Killing to Live: The Dark Side of Transplant Tourism in China,” a 2017 documentary aired by Korea’s Chosen TV, reveals that an estimated 3,000 Koreans a year have received organs in China since 2000. The documentary is about an investigation of the organ transplant centre at Tianjin First Central Hospital in China. The hospital guaranteed organs from “healthy, young donors” on demand. The hospital, which has 500 transplant beds, has three floors dedicated to international transplant patients and the operating room functions around the clock, 24 hours a day. “In China, the organs come easy. I don’t know where they come from. It takes just two hours for them to bring the fresh organs here,” a senior nurse told the filmmakers, adding that a liver costs US$130,000.

Patients from other countries go to China for organs as well. The website of the Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai states that the hospital has attracted patients from more than 10 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

They released two investigative reports, one in 2006 and one in 2016, showing that non-consenting religious and political prisoners—primarily Falun Dafa adherents detained for their beliefs—are being subjected to forced organ harvesting while alive. In other words, they are being killed for their organs.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/forced-organ-harvesting-overseas-patients-flocking-to-china-for-transplants_2816817.html

Pelosi: House Ethics panel should look into Matt Gaetz threat over Michael Cohen ‘girlfriends’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned members of Congress not to make public comments that could affect investigations, after comments from a Republican lawmaker were widely criticized as threatening a witness. “I encourage all Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties,” the California Democrat said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Pelosi posted the statement after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., accused Michael Cohen of having extramarital affairs. "Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends?" Gaetz said Tuesday on Twitter. "Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat." He later said that Cohen, 52, would hear more deeply personal remarks on Wednesday, when Cohen is set to publicly testify before the House Oversight Committee.

Gaetz later defended his comments, claiming that he was not engaging in witness tampering but instead was "witness testing." "We’re witness testing not witness tampering," Gaetz told reporters a few hours after posting the accusatory tweet. "And when witnesses come before Congress their truthfulness and veracity are in question and we have the opportunity to test them."

Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, along with campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments to two women who allege they had affairs with President Trump. Lanny Davis, Cohen’s attorney, said they would not be responding to Gaetz’s allegations of affairs and implications that his wife, Laura Schusterman, could cheat on him if he were to go to jail. “We will not respond to Mr. Gaetz’s despicable lies and personal smears,” Davis said, “except to say we trust that his colleagues in the House, both Republicans and Democrats, will repudiate his words and his comments.” Cohen faces three years in prison.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/pelosi-house-ethics-panel-should-look-into-matt-gaetz-threat-over-michael-cohen-girlfriends