Multiple bills at the state and federal level have been introduced in recent weeks that are aimed at combatting the documented practice of organs being forcibly removed from Chinese political prisoners of conscience, Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, and other groups disfavored by China’s communist regime.

In Tennessee, state lawmakers unanimously approved a measure, entitled the Tennessee Genomic Security and End Organ Harvesting Act, that forbids health care insurers in the state “from knowingly providing coverage for transplants and post-transplant care for operations performed in China, or involving organs that come from China through either sale or donation.” The bill now moves to Governor Bill Lee’s (R) desk.

As noted by The Epoch Times, “Texas, Utah, and Idaho have enacted laws to prevent insurance companies from covering transplant surgeries connected with China” while “Arizona is currently pushing for similar legislation.”

The Volunteer State legislation’s successful passage came a week after federal lawmakers in the House introduced a bill aimed at ensuring that federal funds are not used to reimburse organ transplants using organs in which the source cannot be verified through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), a partnership that connects all professionals involved in organ donation in the U.S. Known as the Block Organ Transplant Purchases from China Act, the legislation was introduced by Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

“The Chinese Communist Party has a long track record of human rights violations stemming from illegal organ harvesting in their own country,” the congressman remarked. “Communist Party authorities regularly target Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in China for this barbaric practice. The United States must do everything in its power to ensure that we are not participating in illegal Chinese organ harvesting.”

A second piece of congressional legislation targeting organ harvesting, the Falun Gong Protection Act, was reintroduced earlier this month. The bill would allow the president to impose sanctions on anyone who knowingly targets members of the Falun Gong religious practice in China for organ harvesting. The sanctions include being “barred from entering the United States or transacting with U.S. individuals, with their U.S. property blocked and current visas revoked,” and “violators face a potential civil fine of $250,000 or a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who co-introduced the bicameral bill with Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), stated, “China’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is an attack on religious freedom and human rights. It’s long past time to dismantle the CCP’s state-sponsored organ harvesting industry.” Perry added that the “CCP and its enablers must be held accountable for these atrocities.”

First reported on in 2006, researchers estimate that tens of thousands of Chinese civilians who were members of the Falun Gong religious movement have been murdered for their organs. The group was targeted for persecution by the Chinese government beginning in 1999 when the communist regime became concerned over the spread of the practice. At one point, it was estimated that as much as half of the labor and reeducation camps in China were made up of Falun Gong practitioners.

The other minority group that has been primarily targeted for organ harvesting are the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China. One source discovered “nine industrial-scale crematoria in Xinjiang, too large to be dealing only with the local population. One such crematorium was found to be within minutes of two [reeducation] camps.”

In total, “Experts estimate that the human organ trafficking industry in China is worth $1 billion a year and is fueled by harvesting organs from China’s 1.5 million concentration camp inmates.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, Arielle Del Turco, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, observed, “It’s very encouraging to see bills at the state and federal level to confront the horrific practice of organ harvesting in China and a handful of other countries known for their human rights abuses. We may not be able to control what the Chinese government does to their people, but we can work to prevent Americans from medical tourism to countries that do not share our standard of medical ethics.”

“This is a critical effort,” Del Turco concluded. “China must never be allowed to cash in on their human rights abuses against Fulan Gong adherents or anyone else. I hope that these bills in the U.S. pass and that this issue is robustly addressed.”