Legalize Organ Trade

There are a lot of people in this world that are going through organ failure. The National Kidney Foundation even found, “Every fourteen minutes someone is added to the kidney transplant list”. Statistically speaking, that is a great deal of people in need of a vital organ. The author Joanna MacKay talks about the need for organ donations in her article “Organ Sales Will Save Lives”. MacKay disputes her case briefly when stating her thesis in the first paragraph. She gives the audience her opinion on how the selling of organs should be built to become legal. Throughout the text she touches on the black market selling of kidneys. She also incorporates how other third world countries have allowed this practice of organ sales. The article includes her insight on what would happen if organ sales would be legalized and how it would be regulated.

There are diversified augments in favor of and against organ sales. I will focus on the arguments of Joanna MacKay from her essay “Organ Sales Will Save Lives” and R.R Kishore’s essay “Human Organs, Scarcities, and Sale: Morality Revisited”. MacKay argues in favor of organ trade legalization stating “government should not ban the sale of human organs; they should regulate it. Kishore argues against organ trade legalization stating “the integrity of the human body should never be subject to trade”.

“Illegal trade in kidneys has risen to such a level that an estimated 10,000 black market operation involving purchased human organs now take place annually or more than one an hour” (The Guardian, 2012). People that are in the need of an organ and willing to participate in illegal activities will either send a broker or go directly to another country where people are lacking in the knowledge of the situation or have an extreme disability and buy an organ rom that individual. In most cases a broker will promise the seller a great amount of money, but in the end they will only receive a fraction of the money that was promised and for some they receive no money. If a broker cannot buy an organ they will steal one. “However, when the organ, like many other valuables that cannot be bought, it is stolen resulting in flagrant violation of human rights” (U.N.O.D.C, 2000). It is currently illegal to buy or sell human organ in the United States and many other countries. People involved with the operation of human trafficking will be charged with a trafficking offence. “For a trafficking offence to be established must be evidence of an illegal act (recruitment) followed by an illegal means (coercion) for the purpose of exploitation (organ harvesting), one in ten organ transplants are illegal” (U.N.O.D.C, 2000). Illegal sales of organs are increasing the rate of criminal

Thousands of people in the United States are dying each year because of a failed kidney, and have no chance to receive one. In “Organ Sales Will Save Lives” by MIT student, Joanna MacKay argues against banning the sale of organs, but instead recommends legalizing and regulating the trade of human organs in order to try and save people’s lives. MacKay reports that in America alone, approximately 350,000 people struggle each year with kidney failure. Since there is no cure, and buying kidneys is currently illegal, this leads the person to search for other options that usually result in purchasing organs on the black market. MacKay states that a black market purchase allows the recipient to buy a fresh, healthy organ from a living donor without the agonizing process of waiting on a list (157-158). MacKay believes that both the recipient and donor would benefit in the legalization and regulation process and if this comes to pass, more organs would be made available for transplant and many people would get the chance to live another day.

The debate has raged on for some time now concerning the ethical issues surrounding the trade in human organs. In the US, the sale of human organs for any economical or other benefits is prohibited. However, this law has done little to stop the trade in human organs. There are a number of fundamental issues that the National Organ Transplant Act seems to have ignored. Banning of the trade in human organs has opened up channels that have enabled the black market for human organs to flourish. According to the World Health Organization,

Since the WHO is not, in any way, going to lift the ban, and one of the most efficient ways to increase the supply of available organs for the thousands of people on organ waiting lists is to make some form of donation and selling legal, other options must be sought-after. By combining two opposing viewpoints it is possible for a whole new approach to this rapidly growing problem to transpire, for there may be more agreeable aspects than what meets the eye.

The desperation that rose as a result of the human organ shortage crisis led to the creation of an entire new business in the black market: transplant tourism. A similar term, called medical tourism, is defined as “the travel of residents of one country to another country for treatment” (Cohen, 2013). Like medical tourism, transplant tourism involves traveling as well, but with the motive of purchasing organs for transplant (Cohen, 2013). It is currently illegal in all countries—besides Iran, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia—to exchange human organs for money. Yet this particular black market still happens to thrive in many destination countries due to the government’s failure to monitor the issue or the absence of resources to detect its general occurrence. The parties involved in this business consist of three different categories: sellers, recipients, and brokers. The majority of sellers come from the poorest parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. The recipients come from the more affluent countries like the Middle East, south Asia, Europe, and North America. The brokers are the people running this particular black market and they reside in the countries where the illegal transplants occur: Istanbul, Cesenau, Moldova, Tel Aviv, and Manila—just to name a few (Cohen,

“Organs” Satel insists, “are the rare trafficked good that saves lives.” ‘Yuan a Kidney?’ and ‘Financial Incentives for Organ Donation’ discuss opposing views of organ donation and trafficking. The National Kidney Foundation finds financial incentives for organ donation to be a form of exploitation, demeaning to society and all around unethical. Satel, however, holds a different perspective in the sense that if a citizen is informed and consenting to donating an organ to save another life for a monetary gain it could improve not only their welfare but the patient’s welfare as well. “Financial Incentives..” focuses strictly on a logical appeal; while “Yuan a Kidney?” is much more emotional while being logical. Satel provides the attention to donors as well as patients. NFK is speaking from a standpoint of legalities and ethics with no regards to donors as people willing to save a life, and little to patients in need of transplants.

One reason the sale of human organs should remain illegal is this has become a big global problem. According to the World Health Organization “[…] one fifth of the 70,000 kidneys transplanted worldwide[…] come from the black market”. (Interlandi) The numbers from the World Health Organization are facts that should not be ignored, this organization specializes in the concern of international health and global health responses. In addition, The World Health Organization has also come to conclusion that “[…] 60 to 70 percent of all transplant surgeries […]” (interlandi) come from third world countries and go to first world countries. A high percentage of third to first world country transplants show that this is a global issue. There is a direct correlation between illegal organ sales/ transplants and first and third world countries. The sale of human organs should remain illegal because this is a huge global problem.

According to recent reports, over 120,000 people globally are in need for organ transplants; however, only twenty five percent of them receive treatment every year. In today’s society, the dispute behind the organ trade industry has caused much controversy and has raised many questions among the medical community. Federal and local investigators have gradually come to the conclusion that the high demand of organs have contributed to the rise of illegal body harvesting, also known as organ trafficking. Although considered lucrative, the negative effects of organ trafficking has certainly override the benefits of this trade and little has been done in regulating this situation. Issues dealt with the black market and the… Due to recent complications

Should the sales of human organs be legally or not, it is quite difficult to find a satisfied answer to this controversial question at the moment. Although a large number of articles were written, numerous speeches were made, countless meetings were hold to discuss about this matter but until now it is still a big controversy issue all over the world. Thanks to the steadily development of scientist, technology and medicine treatment, nowadays human organ can be transplanted from one to another. As the consequence some people think that selling organs should be legalized but others claim that it must not be done because the crime rate will rise and only the rich benefit from it. However, I believe that selling human

The legalization of organ sales has been proposed as a solution to two distinct problems. The first is the problem of illegal organ trafficking and the second is the problem of inadequate supplies of organs available for transplants. Gregory (2011) outlined the case for legalizing organ sales by arguing that the current shortage of organs fuels a black market trade that benefits nobody except criminals. He further argues that such a move would add organs to the market, thereby saving the lives of those who would otherwise die without a transplant, while delivering fair value to the person donating the organ. There are a number of problems with the view that legalizing the organ trade is beneficial. Such a move would exacerbate negative health outcomes for the poor, strengthening inequality, but such a move would also violate any reasonable standard of ethics, by inherently placing a price on one's life and health. This paper will expand on these points and make the case that we should not allow people to pay for organs.

Question: In many countries organ trafficking is illegal, yet the incidence is on the increasing. Examine the legal, ethical and sociological issues involved in procuring human organs for transplant operations, comparing two countries with very different approaches.

Medical tourists usually choose to travel to other countries in order to receive health and dental care. Unfortunately because countries have differing approaches to address medical tourism there is no set definition. However figures show that demand for medical tourism is on the increase . There has been wide debate if this facilitates exploitation, and if so how countries can combat this problem. Exploitation is most obvious in the global commercial organ trade. This is referred to as transplant tourism, of which the 2008 Declaration of Istanbul proposed the following definition : Travel for transplantation becomes transplant tourism if it involves organ trafficking and/or transplant commercialism. In the first section of this essay, the forms of exploitation present in transplant tourism, will be evaluated. Once established recommendations will be proposed as to how host and source countries can protect the individuals involved, other than prohibition. Finally, these will be addressed with reference to the effect, if any that this will have on the current measures in place.

The delegate of Russia believes even though some nations like Russia are trying to get rid of organ trafficking, without the uncompromising effort of the other developed nations to ban importing trafficked organs within their own countries, it will be impossible to end this injustice. Developed countries must organize a system that would encourage an increase in legal organ donors, such as the opt-out system which has been successfully introduced in several countries, or reconsider and deregulate the present system on the basis of WHO guidelines. At the same time, laws must be organized to punish illegal trafficking groups in order to protect poor ‘donors’ from being lured into the organ trade.