Investigation Reveals the Horrendous Fact that Organs are Harvested from Donors with “Signs of Life”
By Cheryl Sullenger
Washington, D.C. — Under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services uncovered shocking evidence that at least one organ procurement organization was harvesting organs before the human donors had died.
“Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying,” said Secretary Kennedy in a written statement issued on July 21, 2025. “The organ procurement organizations that coordinate access to transplants will be held accountable. The entire system must be fixed to ensure that every potential donor’s life is treated with the sanctity it deserves.”
Operation Rescue applauds the reforms.
“This is a big step forward in restoring the Sanctity of Human Life precept in our society,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We have encountered overzealous procurement organizations in our work and have long believed that better protections are needed to prevent horrific abuses that completely disregard the sanctity of human life, born and preborn.”
“A collection of desirable organs”
One such case involved 22-year-old Lakisha Wilson, who was nearly 20 weeks pregnant when she suffered life-threatening complications during an abortion at Preterm in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 2014. She began to hemorrhage during the late-term surgical abortion procedure, suffered cardiac arrest, and stopped breathing. Paramedics called to the scene were able to restart Wilson’s heart. She was transported to a local hospital where she was placed in the intensive care unit on life support and listed in “critical but stable” condition.
As Wilson’s heartbroken family gathered at the hospital, they were approached by an organ procurement company, which pressured them to consent to donate Lakisha’s organs. Her father explicitly denied that request in writing. Over the next seven days, the family was repeatedly pressured by the procurement company to consent, while the hospital conducted tests – not to save Wilson’s life – but to ensure her organs were in good condition for harvesting.
Finally, without the consent of her family, the procurement company harvested Wilson’s organs after finding that she had checked a box on her driver’s license years before, indicating she was willing to become an organ donor.
Because nearly every basic internal organ was missing, Wilson’s autopsy lacked the data needed to determine whether her death was related to malpractice on the part of Preterm and/or its abortionist. (Read the full story with documentation.)
“We worked with Lakisha Wilson’s family to help them find justice and closure, but because she was seen at the hospital as a collection of desirable organs instead of a still-living human being, the family got neither,” said Newman. “I hope that the new Kennedy reforms will prevent this from happening to anyone else.”
Aborted baby organ trafficking
Newman also participated in a 2015 undercover investigation into the harvesting and sale of aborted baby organs and tissue for profit at Planned Parenthood. He served as a founding Board Member of the Center for Medical Progress, which conducted the investigation and released a series of videos that showed Planned Parenthood executives haggling to get top dollar for each organ.
But more disturbing was the information presented by a former organ procurement technician, Holly O’Donnell, who was responsible for harvesting organs from aborted babies at Planned Parenthood in San Jose, California. In a recorded interview, O’Donnell explained how she was required to harvest organs from living babies whose hearts were still beating after being aborted. (Read the full report.)
“We deeply appreciate Secretary Kennedy’s desire to restore a respect for human life in our nation,” said Newman. “We urge him to further investigate organ procurement practices at our nation’s abortion facilities and finally end that grisly practice. But to fully restore respect and protection for life, especially for the most vulnerable, we must also legally protect prenatal babies from the heinous and immoral act of abortion.”
This report may be republished with inclusion of the following acknowledgement: “This article was originally published by Operation Rescue, a leading pro-life, Christian activist organization dedicated to exposing abortion abuses, demanding enforcement, saving innocent lives, and building an abortion-free America. The author, Cheryl Sullenger, is Operation Rescue Sr. Vice President Emeritus.”
