Member of Parliament: Following the Leader's Fatwa on Autopsy, Forensic Call for Bodies Must Be Halted

Following the issuance of a fatwa by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic stating that 'it is not permissible to dissect the bodies of Muslims', a member of the Iranian Parliament has confirmed a 'shortage of bodies' in the country's educational centers and called for the cessation of the forensic call for bodies. Yahya Kamalpour, a member of the Legal Commission of Parliament, stated in an interview with the Fars News Agency that forensic medicine 'cannot currently supply the bodies needed for dissection by any means'. Last year, the Forensic Organization had requested applicants to will their bodies to scientific and educational centers after death if they wished. However, Yahya Kamalpour pointed out that this plan is 'not legal' and should be halted even if individuals have willed their bodies. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in response to several 'inquiries' published on his website, declared that 'it is obligatory to avoid using the body of a Muslim for dissection as much as possible'. He also emphasized recently in response to questions that dissecting the body of a Muslim, even with the individual's own will, 'is not permissible'. Nevertheless, Yahya Kamalpour suggested that forensic medicine should inform the Supreme Leader of this issue so that, 'based on necessities', bodies could be used for dissection. Last year, Ahmad Shojaei, head of the Iranian Forensic Organization, announced that Iran University of Medical Sciences was facing a 'body crisis' and suggested importing bodies to meet the university's needs. Previously, in Bahman 1395 (January-February 2017), 'members of the Examination Board of Dissection Sciences' stated that forensic medicine does not provide them with bodies, and they are forced to 'buy bodies from mafias'. About ten days after this letter, Ebrahim Esfandiari, head of the Anatomy Sciences Department at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, reported that 'practical anatomy' classes had been suspended due to a shortage of bodies.