BY MICHELLE DING

More than 1,000 Missourians signed a petition last year calling on the U.S. Congress to help stop an unimaginable crime in China: forced organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience — especially practitioners of the persecuted Falun Gong meditation.

With the strong bipartisan support of 215 congressional co-sponsors, a pending House resolution known as H. Res. 281 condemns this vile practice.

Missouri is especially heroic in this cause. Nearly all of our representatives have co-sponsored, including Reps. William Lacy Clay, Ann Wagner, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Vicky Hartzler, Emanuel Cleaver, Sam Graves and Jason Smith.

Brought to the spotlight in 2006, forced organ harvesting is a concern for medical doctors, transplant patients and human rights advocates worldwide.

A short patient wait time of two to four weeks, frequent blood tests of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners, a record high of more than 10,000 organ transplants every year without an established organ donation system, and a drastic increase in organ transplants soon after the persecution of Falun Gong began, as cited by this resolution — all point to this deplorable crime.

China expert and author on the subject, Ethan Gutmann, estimates that to date, more than 64,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed for their organs.

H. Res. 281 is expected to go to the floor vote soon, joining voices of justice across the globe, including similar resolutions by the European Parliament, Ireland, Italy and Australia.

We sincerely thank our representatives who co-sponsored the resolution. We know it will save lives. Together, let’s end this crime against humanity.