According to The Epoch Times Belgium’s primary legislative body passed a new bill on April 25 that would punish all parties involved in the buying and selling of human organs for commercial purposes. Violators face up to 20 years imprisonment with a €1.2m (US$1.35 million) fine.
The article says that the law is not only effective within Belgium; it prohibits all Belgian citizens from procuring organs, regardless of where the transaction took place, effectively banning medical tourism for organ transplants.
The regulations stipulate that the organ seller and recipient, as well as any middlemen, doctors who were consulted, or other medical workers who participated in the sale of organs for profit, will be punished under the law.
In explaining what constitutes illegal organ transplant procedures, the proposal brings up the issue of forced organ harvesting, a scenario in which organs are involuntarily removed from individuals who did not express consent. The legal text also includes a clause referencing a resolution condemning forced organ harvesting in China that was passed by the European Parliament in December 2013.
The Belgium bill will next move to the Senate, after which the king will sign it into law. The Czech Republic also recently considered plans to reduce transplant tourism.
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