Inquiry into Human Organ Trafficking and Organ Transplant Tourism

Submission 97

Submission for Inquiry into Human Organ Trafficking

In this submission, I intend to show that there is evidence to enquire whether Australian
abortion providers are involved in the illegal trafficking of foetal tissue and/or organs and
that it is highly desirable for ​Australia to accede to the 2014 Council of Europe
Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs.

Foetal Organ Trafficking in the US

1. There is mounting evidence to suggest that abortion facilities in the US illegally profit
from the sale of foetal tissue and organs. In 2015, a series of videos was released by
the Centre for Medical Progress. ​http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org​. These
undercover videos had been recorded over several years, and contain conversations
between members of Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation, and CMP,
which posed as a fetal tissue procurement company.

2. Some interesting information about the methods employed to cover up illegal activity by
abortion providers can gleaned from the videos. For example, a Planned Parenthood
representative recommended having airtight contracts so that the abortion facility can’t
be accused of selling fetal tissue for profit, and secondly, it was suggested that costs
associated with buying tissue should be hidden in research costs analyses as
administration time, materials and supplies, staff time, transport fees etc.

3. The videos led to an investigation in the US House of representatives: the House Select
Investigative Panel on Infant Lives. A press release by pro-life representatives’ can be
found here:
https://energycommerce.house.gov/news-center/press-releases/select-investigative-pan
el-releases-final-report
The final report can be found here:
https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/files/d
ocuments/Select_Investigative_Panel_Final_Report.pdf

Use of Fetal Tissue for Research/Production in Australia

4. In Australia, foetal tissue and organs are routinely used for research and development of
new medical treatments. The use of fetal cells for production of vaccinations is well
known, but many other medical treatments use fetal tissue in their development and/or
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Submission 97

production: for example Enbrel (rheumatoid arthritis), bioengineered skin (burns,

psoriasis), Humira (psoriasis), HIV treatment, foetal pancreas transplant (for diabetic
patients: although largely replaced by the use of the pig pancreas, this procedure used
intact fetuses, sometimes from still-living aborted babies). Examples of products trialled
in Victoria and which use potentially fetal tissue in their production include Humira and
Enbrel - ​https://www.skincancer.asn.au/page/103/current-clinical-trials

5. This 2003 paper explains how fetal tissue is being used in Australian research:
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2003/179/10/use-human-fetal-tissue-biomedical-researc
h-australia-1994-2002​. From the above: “It would appear then that using the fetus as an
organ donor may under the NH & MRC guidelines be carried out in limited
circumstances. The fetus must be pre-viable, there has to be a cessation of heart beat
and approval has to be obtained from an IEC. In practice, the doctor performing an
abortion obtains consent from the woman about the use of the fetal tissue. If the tissue
cannot be used within a few hours (1-5 hours), it can be frozen. “

Existing legislation to cover violations regarding the use of foetal

tissue is inadequate.

6. It is legal to use aborted baby parts in medical research, according to certain NHMRC
guidelines: There must be no conflict of interest - the consenting mother must be offered the
chance to donate her baby by someone who doesn’t gain from the donation; there must be no
profit motive - any exchange of money must only cover costs; consent must be fully informed -
the mother must be made fully aware of the implications of her decision, and must not be
pressured into making her decision; viability of the foetus may be an issue - some ethics
guidelines suggest that tissue should come only from pre-viable fetus (abortion is legal in Vic to
the day before birth.)

7. This 2011 NHMRC guideline outlines the ethics of human tissue exchange and covers global
demand for tissue, conflicts of interest, consent and cost-recovery models:
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/e103​ and this links to the 2015 National
Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research:
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/e72

8. Victoria's Human Tissue Act 1982 regulates the removal of human tissue, such as blood and
organ donation from the living, but does not apply to fetal tissue. (Section 5). However, a 1991
paper, “The Regulation of Fetal Tissue Transplantation”, suggests changes to the Human
Tissue Act, to encompass fetal tissue:
http://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/13_morgan_1991.pdf
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9. Two more papers which relate to the legal and ethical use of foetal tissue: Can Fetal Tissue
Transplantation be done Legally? (Kasimba & Dawson, 1990)
http://138.25.65.17/au/journals/SydLawRw/1990/4.pdf​ and (behind paywall) The ethical use of
fetal tissue for transplantation and research.- (Verklan, 1993)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8376653

10. Researchers admit that the use of aborted foetal tissue is contentious and suggest using
terminology that hides the provenance of such tissue in their documentation. For example, this
paper suggests that tissue obtained through abortion can be labelled as ‘organ donation’ or
‘adult stem cells’: ​“As fetal cells are from organ donations and under transplantation medicine,
they are also routinely included in the terminology as adult stem cells.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3262533/

EPA Guidelines for Clinical Waste Disposal

11. According to the Environmental Protection Act website, EPA Victoria is ‘responsible for
regulating the storage, transport, treatment and disposal of clinical and related wastes in
Victoria under the Environment Protection (Industrial Waste Resource) Regulations 2009.’ The
website also states that, ‘The only acceptable method for disposal of human tissue waste in
Victoria is incineration at an EPA licensed incinerator. Human tissue wastes must be packaged
and identified separately from other clinical waste streams that do not require incineration.’
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/~/media/Publications/IWRG612%201.pdf

12. The Environmental Protection Act site contains a register of all EPA-approved carriers here:
https://portal.epa.vic.gov.au/irj/portal/anonymous?NavigationTarget=ROLES://portal_content/ep
a_content/epa_roles/epa.vic.gov.au.anonrole/epa.vic.gov.au.piw​, and states that it is an offence
to transport human tissue in an unmarked vehicle. However, the EPA may allow an ‘Enforceable
Undertaking’ (a binding agreement which aims to correct unlawful practices) as an alternative
to prosecution. This document explains how complicity is investigated:
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/~/media/Publications/1473.pdf​)

13. These guidelines are completely inadequate as they contain no real incentive to avoid or
curtail the profitable trade in foetal parts.
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There is documented evidence of suspicious activity at two Marie

Stopes abortion facilities in Melbourne.

14. Unusual activity has been directly observed at Marie Stopes Croydon and East St. Kilda, on
certain days, by certain individuals. Vehicles, which are not marked with identifying biohazard
insignia, have been seen picking up and dropping off large, unmarked plastic bins. It raises the
question whether these vehicles collect the bodies or parts of aborted babies. As seen above, it
is an EPA violation to transport human tissue in unmarked containers/vehicles. However, these
collections occur on different days from the collection vans, marked Sterihealth collection, and
normal supplies and services are otherwise accounted for: couriers, laundry, tradesmen,
pathology, postal delivery etc.

15. The same vehicle has been seen at both MS Croydon and MS East St. Kilda on
Wednesdays, which is procedure day. A different vehicle, a white van, arrives weekly with a
satchel delivery. One CMP video showed an abortion provider stating that some information is
too sensitive for email. Given that Australian abortion providers are even more careful about
disclosing information, it raises the question whether this van transports paperwork indicating
which foetal parts have been ordered for that day.

16. The Marie Stopes facility at Croydon performs abortions to 24 weeks gestation. According to
the CMP videos, tissue from second trimester abortions (from 13-26 weeks) is most valuable to
researchers, since the parts remain intact. In April, 2015, an abortionist from this facility
attended an abortion providers’ conference in San Francisco and jokingly offered to take baby
parts back to Australia. The conference was the National Abortion Federation’s annual meeting.
At the conference, footage of the abortionist was captured by the undercover camera of David
Daleiden, the man responsible for proving that Planned Parenthood (USA) is involved in illegal
baby parts trafficking. The same abortionist was filmed in an Australian documentary about
working in the abortion industry, in which she performed an abortion on a 24 week fetus.

17. The question of whether there is unauthorised foetal tissue collection from Marie Stopes
warrants immediate investigation.

Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs

18. ​The Council of Europe Convention attempts to criminalise activity in order to prevent human
organ trafficking (article 1a, article 16) and includes references to both living and deceased
donors (article 4 (1c)). Transportation of illicitly removed tissue is explicitly mentioned (article
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8b). Accommodation is made for those acting illicitly within an organisation (article 11). In the
context of a facility providing abortions, an abuse of authority is involved which increases the
seriousness of an offence (article 13b). If there is evidence of non-consent or failure to disclose
that a profit may be made from the development of commercial medical treatments, then this is
an additional offence under the Convention (article 18).

19. ​Fetal tissue products/research is a legal grey area. There are few laws, and mainly ethical
guidelines in place in Australia which offer little deterrent to organised foetal organ trafficking.
Mothers may give consent for fetal tissue to be used for research purposes (which helps justify
the abortion, in some cases) but may not be told that tissue will be involved in production of a
commercial, for-profit therapy. Additionally, there is no oversight from the TGA for products used
in clinical trials. ​Therefore it is desirable for Australia to accede to the 2014 Council of Europe
Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs.