Should there be an organ market?
In this essay called "Payment for donor kidney: Pros/cons" by EA Friedman and Al Friedman, talks about potentially selling organs.The argument about whether there should be an organ market has been going back and forth for many years. People are still doing illegal organ transplant around the world like India, China, Turkey, and Russia so how come we can not have an organ market? What is stopping us from going further? For this blog I will be talking mainly about the kidney organ. Considering you have two kidneys, you are able to give away one of your kidneys and still be functional. In 2005, 65,000 people were waiting for a kidney from deceased donor in order to survive. About 3000 of the people on the wait list will die yearly just waiting for the kidney. Each day 74 people receive an organ transplant but about 17 people die each day because they could not receive a transplant. So why isn't there an organ market?
What's stopping us?
The Medical associations consider that an organ transaction is "morally and ethically irresponsible" and "inhumane and unacceptable". Pope John Paul II said that "buying and selling an organ violates the dignity of the human person". The National Organ Transplant Act states that "it shall be unlawful" and punishment for doing illegal transplant can face up to $50,000 and or 5 years in prison.
What is the view now?
Over the years, there are more and more people favoring for kidney sales. Everyone has a choice to engage in risky behaviors such as sky diving, military services, and smoking cigarettes, so what is the difference? Also how is it worse that selling a person's egg and sperm is legal compare to an organ market? A sperm and egg will create an entirely new human being, is that the same as human trafficking? If the government steps in and introduce a system that can manage the sales of kidney appropriately, there will be less death from end stage renal diseases. By having an organ market, it will eliminate black markets.What do you think? Should we have an organ market?
References:
EA Friedman and AL Friedman. (2006). Payment for donor kidney: Pros/cons