Arizona joins four other states that have enacted laws to address the Chinese regime’s organ harvesting abuse.
Arizona has signed into law a bill to combat the Chinese communist regime’s practice of forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience, joining four other states that have similar laws in place to counter the abuse.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the Arizona End Organ Harvesting Act (HB 2109) into law on May 6, after the state Senate passed the legislation at the end of April. Under the law, insurance providers, including subscription contract providers, health care services organizations, disability insurers, and the state’s Medicaid agency, can deny or limit coverage for a patient who chooses to receive an organ transplant from China or Hong Kong, or if the organ comes from within the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The law will come into effect in the summer, as Arizona law stipulates that signed bills become effective 90 days after the end of the current legislative session.
State Rep. Leo Biasiucci, the bill’s lead sponsor, said he was encouraged to see his state on board to counter forced organ harvesting.
For individuals and their families who have been targeted by the abuse, he hopes the news can bring them some solace, he told The Epoch Times.
A similar bill, also led by Biasiucci, was vetoed by Hobbs in April 2024 after passing both state legislative chambers. At the time, the governor rejected it, saying it contained “overbroad provisions” that would have prohibited health care and research facilities from using China-sourced equipment for genetic sequencing, and insurers from funding the same.
Biasiucci separated the 2024 bill into two pieces of legislation—organ harvesting and genetic sequencing—and introduced them earlier this year. Hobbs signed the former but vetoed the genetic sequencing bill (HB 2693) on May 2.
Texas, Utah, Idaho, and Tennessee have enacted similar legislation to counter the CCP’s forced organ harvesting.
Currently, there are two bills in Congress addressing the issue.
By Eva Fu and Frank Fang
