STOP Organ Trafficking Act

Strategy To Oppose Predatory Organ Trafficking Act or the STOP Organ Trafficking Act

(Sec. 3) This bill expresses the sense of Congress that:

• kidnapping or coercion of individuals to extract their organs for profit contradicts the standards for ethical behavior upon which the United States has based its laws;
• illegal harvesting of organs from children is a violation of the chid's human rights and a breach of international medical ethical standards;
• illegal harvesting and trafficking of human organs violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and
• establishing efficient national organ donation systems with strong enforcement mechanisms is the most effective way to combat trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs.

(Sec. 4) It shall be U.S. policy to: (1) combat trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs, (2) promote the establishment of voluntary organ donation systems with effective enforcement mechanisms, and (3) promote the dignity and security of human life.

(Sec. 5) The Passport Act of 1926 is amended to authorize the Department of State to refuse to issue a passport to, and revoke a previously issued passport from, a person convicted of trafficking in human organs who used a passport or otherwise crossed an international border in committing such offense.

(Sec. 6) The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 is amended to define "trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs" as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person, either living or dead, for the purpose of removing one or more of the person's organs by:

• coercion,
• abduction,
• deception,
• fraud,
• abuse of power, or
• transfer of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of an individual having control over such person for the purpose of removing the person's organs.

"Organ" means the human (including fetal) kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, bone marrow, cornea, eye, bone, and skin or any subpart thereof and any other human organ specified by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs is included in the definition of "severe forms of trafficking in persons."

The Interagency Task Force To Monitor and Combat Trafficking is tasked with collecting and organizing data from human rights officers at U.S. embassies on host country's laws against trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs and any instances of violations of such laws.

(Sec. 7) The State Department shall report annually through 2024 to Congress regarding: (1) the trafficking of persons for the removal of their organs, and (2) preventive activities undertaken by the State Department and other countries.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov