To: Loretta Lynch & Leslie Caldwell, US Attorney General and Asst. Attorney General
URGE DOJ to Enforce NOTA Against Human Egg Trafficking
It is long overdue for the US Department of Justice to defend women against the illegal egg trafficking industry by enforcing the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984. NOTA defines surgical harvesting of human organ tissue as only legal when donated (Flynn v. Holder) -- and otherwise it is a crime punishable by 5 years. Nevertheless, ads are common offering as much as $50,000 compensation to young women to have their eggs surgically removed.
Why is this important?
Ovaries are human organs, and their removal carries the same risks as other surgical procedures involving anesthesia, in addition to risky hormone injections. Yet college students are being invited to violate the NOTA law by advertisements promising as much as $50,000 for their eggs. The sale of human eggs may be part of an alleged $80 million industry (Lindsay Kamakahi v American Society for Reproductive Medicine), but as demonstrated by businesses such as Napster, prolific business activity can be halted overnight if determined to be illegal.