“Inmates turned into bodies without souls,” recollects Sayragul Sauytbay, a 43-year-old Uyghur Muslim woman forced into a reeducation facility.

Imprisonment and genocide are happening to the Uyghur population across China. These imprisonments often lead to forced organ removal.

During the 88th Texas Legislative session, Senator Lois Kolkhorst introduced SB1040. This bill relates to health benefit plan coverage of a transplant of an organ that originated from or is transplanted in a country known to have participated in organ harvesting. Thank you, Senator Kolkhorst, for this courageous bill building on Senator Angela Paxton’s work last session. We look forward to Representative Tom Oliverson sharing the companion bill in the House!

Thank you for supporting this bill and joining us, Representative Salman Bhojani and Representative Jacey Jetton. Additionally, we are so proud to have had the help of our friends at Uyghur Human Rights Project!

Last week, we held the first press conference about the Uyghur crisis at the Texas Capitol in Austin. The aforementioned legislators were in attendance to introduce the bill. Additionally, two female survivors shared their testimonies of what they endured and experienced in the Chinese concentration camps.

“This is an issue that has powerful implications for religious freedom. Inadvertently, due to the understandable needs of Texans who are in need of organ transplants – we are uplifting an industry rooted in evil in China facilitated by the CCP.

This industry is based on imprisoning Muslims, Christians, and others of faith and brutally removing their organs against their will. 

Prophet Mohammed said: if you see evil, change it with your hands…. 

Religious freedom is the cornerstone of our democracy and an innate value we hold as Texans. This bill will go a substantial way in protecting the religious freedom of Muslims and Christians, and others of faith by preventing Texans from uplifting a terrible industry in china and other nations that forcefully remove organs from its population.

In ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬-‭26‬, Jesus said to his disciples, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

As Texans we have a real opportunity to lead on this issue.

Thank you immensely, Senator Kolkhorst, for introducing such a critical bill and building upon Senator Paxton’s resolution from the last session. May God bless you and allow this bill to become a light of hope for victims worldwide.” – Shariq Abdul Ghani, Minaret Foundation’s Executive Director.

Click below to watch the one-minute recap of the press conference:

Click below to watch the press conference in its entirety:

To learn more about the Uyghur crisis in China, take a moment to read this incredible blog post by our former intern Mayha Syed: Let’s Go Deeper: The Uyghur Crisis.