China leads the world in less than ethical organ procurement. China is dependent upon the execution of prisoners to support their booming organ donation business. According to Biggens et al 2009, 95% of the organ donors in China are executed prisoners.
The Chinese government has released several documents concerning the use of executed prisoners as organ donors. According to Lenning (2007), in 1979 China published Rules Concerning the Dissection of Corpses. This was the first documentation by the Chinese government confirming the uses of organ donation from executed prisoners. China has some of the harshest penalties in the world. An act of theft can constitute capital punishment. (American.edu) In 1984 China passed Rules Concerning the Utilization of Corpses or Organs for the Corpses of Executed Prisoners. This allowed for organs of executed prisoners to be harvested if the body was not claimed by a family member, if the family has given consent, or if the prisoner volunteered to donate. (American.edu) One prisoner serving a seven year sentence witnessed, on several different occasions, prisoners who were having blood samples taken and being medically screened for organ donation the night before their execution. (American.edu) The proclamation On the Use of Dead bodies or Organs from Condemned Criminals states theuse of organs from condemned criminals should be strictly confidential, there is no time frame specified that a family must claim the body, after organ procurement the deceased is to be cremated and the family members may then pick up the ashes. (Lenning 2007). With the laws governing organ procurement being so vague it is unlikely that a family would even know if their loved one had been an organ donor. There is no required time frame that a body is officially unclaimed. If the government wishes, they could begin organ procurement shortly after execution, cremate the remains and the family is none the wiser.
Documentation from the Chinese government shows that between 2,000 to 3,000 human organs, from approximately 4,500 executed prisoners, are procured each year. Through the 1990’s China executed more people than the rest of the world combined. (American.edu) At a rate of 4500 executed prisoners a year, it is not surprising that China surpasses all other countries in executions.
Why does the Chinese government allow for such lax organ donation standards? Organ donation is big money. A liver can sell for $25,000, a kidney for $20,000 and corneas and pancreases for $5,000 a pair. (American.edu) With 2,000 to 3,000 human organs being harvested a year, China is gaining millions of dollars in profit. Since the Chinese government is not putting a stop to the unethical organ procurement procedures why has there not been an international movement to stop China? According to American.edu, there are no international laws which can be enforced upon the Chinese government and no organization that can make the Chinese government comply with international human rights decree. Since there is not an international law and no agency which can enforce an investigation into the Chinese process of organ donation there is no way to force the Chinese government into compliance.
It is interesting that China has such a high rate of organ transplantation when such a thing is taboo in Chinese culture. Buddhism and Confucianism dominate the nation’s religious values. ‘Chinese religious traditions dictate that bodies are to be kept whole after death, meaning voluntary donations are rare, if they occur at all. Chinese are so dedicated to this notion of keeping dead bodies intact that the autopsy rate is virtually zero.’(Lenning 2007) Wang et al (2010) argues that ‘an important Confucian requirement that one should protect one’s body and attempt not to damage it because one’s body, from the Confucian view, is received from one’s parents and ancestors to whom one should keep filial. Wang et al (2010) has mentioned that inmates in the past were coerced to donate their organs by being treated better while in prison. Another explanation for China’s high rate of organ donation is that according to American.edu, the family is responsible to compensate the government for the cost of incarceration, the bullet used to kill the offender as well as cremation costs. It is unlikely that a family can afford neither these fees nor wanting the shame of having a family member in prison. It is becomes unlikely a family member will claim the body which leaves the Chinese government ‘legally’ allowed to procure the organs.
What can be done? International law needs to be created that creates regulations on organ donation. There must be an agency which investigates and enforces policy.
Biggins, S. W., Bambha, K., Terrault, N., Inadomi, J., Roberts, J. P., & Bass, N. (2009). Transplant tourism to China: the impact on domestic patient-care decisions. Clinical Transplantation, 23(6), 831-838.
Lenning, Emily. "Execution for Body Parts: A Case of State Crime." Contemporary Justice Review 10.2 (2007): 173-191. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 May 2011.
Wang, M., & Wang, X. (2010). Organ Donation by Capital Prisoners in China: Reflections in Confucian Ethics. Journal of Medicine & Philosophy, 35(2), 197-212. doi:10.1093/jmp/jhq008
Illegal Human Organ Trade from Executed Prisoners in China, May 03, 2011 from, http://www1.american.edu/ted/prisonorgans.htm
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