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The House overwhelmingly passed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill creating new tools and sanctions to combat the illegal global trade of human organs.
The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 (H.R. 1503) establishes a clear U.S. policy to fight the illegal removal and trade of human organs worldwide. The bill targets individuals who use coercion, abduction, or deception to harvest organs and specifically seeks to hold foreign officials, including members of the Chinese Communist Party, accountable. Key provisions include the authority to revoke U.S. passports for convicted traffickers and the requirement for the President to impose economic sanctions and travel bans on those facilitating these abuses. This vote was conducted under a procedure known as 'suspension of the rules.' In the House of Representatives, this process is used to quickly pass legislation that has broad, bipartisan support. Because it bypasses the usual committee and debate rules to speed up the process, it requires a higher bar for success: two-thirds of the members voting must approve the bill for it to pass, rather than a simple majority. The bill passed with nearly unanimous support, reflecting a rare moment of total agreement between both parties on a major human rights issue. Only one member voted against the measure. Now that it has passed the House, the bill moves to the Senate, where it has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations for further consideration.
The legislation has been sent to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations for consideration.
OPEN BILL →Why it matters. This bill significantly expands the U.S. government's ability to punish human rights violators and signals a direct confrontation with the global organ trafficking trade.
Who’s affected. International Organ Traffickers: Would face revocation of travel documents and freezing of financial assets in the U.S. · Foreign Officials: Specifically targets those in governments believed to facilitate forced harvesting with sanctions and visa bans. · Human Rights Victims: Provides a formal U.S. policy framework aimed at protecting vulnerable populations from exploitation and abduction for organ removal.
Democrats. The Democratic caucus was unanimous in its support among those present.
Republicans. Republicans were nearly unanimous, with only one member of the caucus voting against the bill.
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass
May 7, 2025
The House overwhelmingly passed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill creating new tools and sanctions to combat the illegal global trade of human organs.
The House used a 'suspension of the rules' procedure, which is reserved for non-controversial bills with broad support. This fast-track method requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, significantly higher than the usual simple majority.
The legislation has been sent to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations for consideration.
This bill significantly expands the U.S. government's ability to punish human rights violators and signals a direct confrontation with the global organ trafficking trade.
Both parties were almost entirely unified in support of the measure, showing a collective stand against international organ trafficking.
The Democratic caucus was unanimous in its support among those present.
Republicans were nearly unanimous, with only one member of the caucus voting against the bill.
The single independent member present voted in favor of the bill.