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Legalizing Organ Sales

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Out of fear and desperation, the steps implemented in the United States in matching organ donors to their organ recipients are ignored. Organ recipients, desperate for a lifesaving organ are seeking satisfaction and “have turned to unregulated sources of organs in third-world countries” (Bard, 2008). This desperate attempt to obtain the gift of life grows out of the frustration felt by many organ recipients who wait on organ donors lists, sometimes for years, for the perfect organ match (OPTN, 2015). For many organ recipients time is of the essence and they do not have years to wait, which is where the international illegal organ trade comes into play. Some statistics suggest “an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 kidneys are illegally sold globally …show more content…

The solution to their dilemma is illegal. In 1984, The National Organ transplant Act was put into effect and established “criminal prohibition against the exchange of organs for transplantation” (Organdonor.gov, 2015). The supply of organs seems readily available through the black market, but at what cost? Is the illegal trade of an organ worth obtaining and knowing that “people may be kidnapped, killed and sold, especially children, for their organs’ (UNRIC, 2014)? Legalizing the sale of human organs can largely increase the supply of organs to meet the need of organ recipients, provide a safe and legal environment for organ sales and curtail the human atrocities that are associated with the black …show more content…

Trafficking of organs of human beings is taking place on a daily basis. Individuals at the mercy of organized crime groups are experiencing brutal tactics in the forms of “incarceration, rape, torture and sexual enslavement" (UNRIC, 2014) in order to harvest their organs to meet the supply of organs needed for brokers to sell through an organized nexus of crime (UNRIC, 2014). If the process of legalizing organ sales was initiated and the organ trade had the opportunity to be regulated, the heinous treatment of poor organ donors may cease to exit. The primary goal of regulating the sale of organs internationally would be" to get organized crime out of it, get fair prices and safer practices for donors and safer medical care for recipients"(Leslie,

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