Lawmakers Call for Crackdown on Bodies Exhibits
Bill Would Prohibit Importation of Any 'Plastinated' Human Body Part Into the U.S.
He also said he was appalled at the allegations that some of the bodies from his Chinese suppliers might be those of executed prisoners. "If these can actually be attributed to even the people that we're doing business with, we would have to do something about that immediately," Geller said.
Premier general counsel Brian Wainger said the company has another exhibit called "Bodies Revealed" that they say exhibits only donated bodies from China. He said the company still uses plastinated "unclaimed" bodies for exhibitions and is working with the same suppliers.
Human rights activists and protesters of the exhibit say that "unclaimed" in China could mean anything. "In the U.S. we have very specific laws as to what constitutes 'unclaimed.' Premier's use of 'unclaimed' is 'unknown,'" said Sarah Redpath, who runs a Web site protesting the exhibit out of her home in North Carolina.
Redpath also argues that there should be more government regulation over the importation of plastinated bodies. "We need our elected officials, not profiting entertainment companies, to regulate this industry," she said.
U.S. Customs has said that since the plastination process changes the nature of the human remains, plastinated body parts can be imported as plastic objects, not as human bodies.
Akin is outraged. "That is the same rhetoric that oppressive governments around the world have used to dehumanize people. This is a human body. Just because you infuse plastic into it does not change that," he said.
Akin's bill would not affect current shows because the remains are already here. It does not single out any particular bodies exhibit or company that performs plastination. Under the bill, only bodies donated and plastinated domestically would be legal to display. Penalty for importation of plastinated bodies would be a fine of up to $10,000 per violation.
Other companies that would be affected include Corcoran Laboratories, a Michigan-based company that imports plastinated body parts from China and advertises them on their Web site to the public. They also sell the plastinated parts to medical schools for teaching purposes.