Page 1511 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 April 2013
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It is important to note that in Australia the family are always asked to confirm the donation wishes of the deceased before donation can proceed. The quality of care for a potential donor—and the wishes of their family—is always the foremost consideration and is never compromised by the potential for organ and tissue donation, unlike in some parts of the world.
I would like to draw the attention of the Assembly to a roundtable event which happened on 20 March at Parliament House, hosted by Senator John Madigan, which drew the attention of federal parliamentarians to the ethical implications for Australia of the disturbing practice of illegal live organ harvesting. Speakers were Professor Maria Fiatarone Singh from the University of Sydney—she is a geriatrician and contributing author to the book State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China—and David Kilgour, a former Canadian member of parliament and secretary of state. David won the 2009 human rights award from the International Society for Human Rights for his work on organ harvesting. He and his colleague David Matas were nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for their investigation into allegations of illegal live organ harvesting practices in China in 2006.
Recent medical advances have improved the success of organ transplantation. There has also been a rise in the illegal harvesting and trafficking of organs. Internationally, this has led to a market developing so that those with money to buy organs are able to visit countries where forced organ harvesting occurs in order to receive a lifesaving transplant.
This produces real and ongoing abuses of human rights. At its worst, organ harvesting can see people killed to order, with one person’s life being deliberately taken to save another. I am sure that there would be nobody here who would find the prospect of live organ harvesting to be anything other than utterly abhorrent. It is an issue of great concern to us as global citizens. I think we are grateful that we live in a country where respect for the personal choice of potential donors and their families is paramount and central to our organ and tissue donation and transplantation program.
While most countries like Australia have laws prohibiting both the sale and forced removal of human organs, there are a number of countries where the practice continues to be widespread. This includes countries in our region such as China. One way of addressing this brutal trade is for countries such as Australia to impose prohibitions on its citizens and residents from receiving trafficked organs, wherever the transplant occurs. This would make it a crime for Australian citizens to receive organs sourced by illegal and unethical means. Such a prohibition should also serve to direct attention to the need to improve organ donation rates in Australia.
My colleagues in the New South Wales Greens are currently considering law reform to create specific offences of receiving harvested or trafficked organs within New South Wales or overseas. Such law reform could highlight the injustice of the global organ trade and provide a strong disincentive for New South Wales to participate in it. They are seeking broad consultation with the community, members of the medical community and other stakeholders.
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