February 2009
News from the Heart of Hawaii |
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Legislature eyes 'Bodies' ban
House Bill 29 seeks to prevent display of dead bodies
By Lynn Nakagawa / Heart of Hawaii
House Bill 29 seeks to prohibit the display or commercial display of dead human bodies without a permit from the Department of Health. Representative Marcus Oshiro, Democrat of the Wahiawa district, introduced the bill. The legislation is in response to "Bodies…the Exhibition" which displayed human cadavers and body parts at the Ala Moana Center near Nordstrom. The exhibit ran from June 2008 until January 18th of this year. It is shown nationwide and abroad.
The exhibit shows the cadavers of Chinese citizens that were originally received by the Chinese Bureau of Police. The exhibit runs under the company Premier Exhibitions, Inc. that maintains the legitimacy of the bodies. The Atlanta-based company claims the cadavers are unclaimed bodies from Dalian Medical University, a teaching hospital recognized by the World Health Organization. House Bill 29 however, seeks to require consent on behalf of the deceased to legitimize the cadaver's exhibition. The measure would ban "Bodies…the Exhibition" from Hawaii.
Hong Jiang, a geography professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa spoke to the Honolulu Advertiser and Star-Bulletin in opposition of the exhibit. Jiang believes the cadavers may be the bodies of executed Chinese prisoners and fears the Chinese government may have lied about the bodies.
The exhibition did not require a permit during its time in Hawaii, which prompted Oshiro to take action. "We wanted to make sure that Hawai'i would be the first state in the nation to ban and prohibit this type of desecration and abuse of human beings and their bodies," Rep. Oshiro said. The bill would ban exhibits showing human bodies without a permit except for cadavers more than 80 years old, consisting solely of teeth or hair, involved in funeral or religious ceremonies, or those in the possession of a museum.
Opponents of the bill call the measure a waste of money and time while proponents believe it is a step in the right direction in human rights after death.
On February 10th, 2009, Tuesday, the measure was passed with amendments, with 14 ayes, 0 noes, and 2 excused.
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