In the United States “There are currently 123, 378 people on the organ transplant wait list and of that number, approximately 21 will die today.” (McAndrews et al., 2016, pg. 182). People all over the world is waiting patiently for an organ donor for their loved ones or for themselves. Organ sales is an on-going process in the United States, as well in other countries. However, in the United States and some countries it is illegal for a person to sell their organs to anyone for money. Organ sales is when someone is selling their organs for money, and it is either to help them with their living situation, such as paying their bills, and putting food on their table. Organ sales have been a big problem in society, because individuals that are living in poverty in poor countries gets taken advantage of because of their living situation. These individuals will sell their organs to help get themselves or their family out of poverty. In the United States, Arab Emirates wanted to sell his kidney in-order-to help his family of two wives and six children living at their grandparent’s home. Another case is in India, “The Tribune, India reported that a 42-year-old Nepalese man named Man Dhoj Tamang sold one of his kidneys to pay off his debts and buy a piece of land.” (Bakdash, 2006, para. 3). Organ sales in the United States are immoral, because they target the individuals living in poverty, causes organ or human trafficking, and creates a black market that is unfair.
Individuals
“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.
Please try and consider the following situation. You’re sitting in an emergency room, waiting for your dad to awake after falling into liver failure, costing him to need a new liver. Not knowing if it’s possible, crossing your fingers. You wish you could help, but you can’t. Someone else can. An organ donor. According to organdonor.gov, about 116,000 U.S. citizens are waiting on the organ transplant list as of August 2017. To put that number into perspective, that’s more than double the amount of people that can fit into Yankee Stadium. And to make matters worse, 20 people each day die waiting for a transplant.(organdonor.gov) Organ donation can offer patients a second chance at life and provides
Selling organs is a rising problem in the healthcare community, government and morality. Organ sales has become the topic of discussion for numerous reasons. Some of which being lowering the wait time on the organ transplant waitlist and taking advantage of the financially disadvantaged. This issue affects many people on many different levels, some people morally or legally but mostly importantly medically. What this basically comes down to is: “Who are we to judge what people do with their bodies?”. The answer to this question lays in many different sources. The simplified answer is no we can not tell people what they can and can not tell other people what they can and can ot do with their bodies.
There are 112 thousand people on the organ transplant list and 22 people die every day because they cannot find a match ("Organ Donation Statistics", 2017). In 1984, under the National Organ Transplant Act, America outlawed the buying and selling of organs. If caught selling organs illegally, those involved shall be fined not more than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both (Prohibition of Organ Purchases, 2011). With organizations like Planned Parenthood selling the body parts of aborted fetuses, the compensation of organs has been compared to prostitution. (Gebelhoff, 2015). If organ donors begin being compensated for their gifts of life, the Black Market organ trafficking will increase due to supply and demand of organs which in return creates a higher victim rate related to the black market. Offering money for organs can be viewed as an attempt to coerce economically disadvantaged Americans to participate in organ donation even though these groups of people have been shown to be less likely to be candidates, monetary incentives for organs could be characterized as exploitation (National Kidney Foundation, 2003). The Compensation of organ donation is unethical due to the acts by organizations such as Planned Parenthood, black market increases along with acts of cruelty towards unexpecting victims, and the increase in costs to perform the transplants.
Everyday, twenty-two people die waiting for an organ transplant. Patients on the donor list are in need of an organ and are depending on it for survival. Some patients are on the list for weeks, months, even years with sno match. Comparatively, 6,316 people die every hour with viable organs that can be used. Doctors are not legally allowed to use these organs unless given consent by only the patient before death. If all U.S. citizens donated their organs, transplantations could occur and save thousands of lives each year. Organ donation should be required in the United States because of the significant number of lives that could be saved everyday.
In the essay “Organ Sales Will Save Lives” by Joanna MacKay, kidney failure is the main topic. In her thesis, MacKay states that, “Governments should not ban the sale of human organs; they should regulate it (92).” The thesis is supported by one main reason: it will save lives. In America 350,000 people struggle each year from this situation. MacKay also states that with the legal selling of organs, more people will be willing to give up their kidneys. There are also other ways to save lives like dialysis, but this situation would only be for a temporary time period, transplant is definitely the way to go. People in third world countries are
In the article, “Organ Sales Will Save Lives” by Joanne MacKay the author discusses how it would be beneficial if the government would allow people to sell and purchase organs legally and regulate the sale of the organs. Specifically she discusses the right to purchase kidneys from willing, living donors for people who suffer from End Stage Renal Disease, which is when the kidneys no longer function. Currently, transplant listed recipients must wait for cadaver donors or must purchase organs illegally on the black market from donors from third world countries in order for a chance to extend their lives. One has to wonder how a person can sell their sperm and ova so others can have babies, their blood and platelets to help cure others with blood diseases, yet are forbidden to sell kidneys that could potentially save thousands of lives across the world. In a country, that is a world leader
Organ trafficking is an illegal act that occurs globally. Traffickers are taking organs out of people using unhealthy medical procedures that cause serious health problems in many people in countries all over the world. Money is a strict motivation that keeps this black market running and increasing due to the disproportionate ratio of organs needed to survive, and organs available to transplant. There are many arguments revolving around the issue of organ donation in terms of ethics, limiting the ways people can donate. There is a very long process one would have to go through if considering donation, including a psychological examination in addition to the first part of the process to determine if the organ from the donor is a match for the recipient. Selling organs for profit is considered unethical as society views organ transplantation as an act that should be an altruistic donation, meaning that donations should be done without profit. Although there are laws restricting the act of organ trafficking, it is a growing industry because people do not understand the gravity of the damage being caused to targeted individuals and the community. In order to make a global change to put an end organ trafficking, people unaware of the activity should be educated of the act and the negative consequences it can have on multiple levels of the community. Organ trafficking can hurt an individual physically, mentally and financially
The National Organ Transplant Act (Public Law 98-507) makes it illegal to sell human organs and tissues in the United States (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Violators are subject to fines and imprisonment. Congress made this law to ensure wealthy individuals do not have an unfair advantage for receiving an organ donation. Some illegal organ trafficking does occur; the World Health Organization estimates about one-fifth of all kidney donation may not be legally donated (Troug, 2005). Paying for an organ is an unjust moral pressure for the donor. In contrast to the law, some argue in favor of allowing organs to be sold for monetary incentive to increase the supply of organs to meet the high demand. This is an example of utilitarianism ethics, as the ends of giving lives from donating organs justify the means of paying for the organ. Furthermore, organs are being sold in other places of the world. For example, in India, individuals sell their kidneys for $700, and in Bombay, there have been kidnapping cases where people are killed for they organs (Troug, 2005).
By offering money, more individuals would readily give up their organs. This would lead to a surplus of organs for transplants. However, an increase in the price of organs would limit those who could afford surgeries. Although selling organs benefits the donor, the patients suffer from money concerns in addition to their original medical issues. One item frequently reveals the corruption of society: money. The process of organ transplants should hold the ultimate aim of saving lives, not the selfish bribe of gaining wealth. Other methods, such as providing life or health insurance, would be less materialistic options for encouraging organ donation. Currently, organ donation only offers the donor a personal feeling of well-being. Jennifer Bard discusses the corruption after researching about organ transplants at the Texas Tech University School of Law. Bard analyzes,“... it has so far been prohibited to offer any financial incentive for registering as a donor or to families of individuals who choose to allow donation after death… no solution to the reluctance of Americans to donate can work until this reluctance is taken seriously and the families who choose not to donate organs are listened to with respect” (121-122). Patients face drastic amounts of debt from medical bills. Rather than exchanging money for organs, help should be offered to ailing patients. Authors from the
Illegal organ sales are on the rise because of the worldwide organ shortage. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that there are over one hundred and nineteen thousand men, women, and children currently waiting on the transplant list, and twenty-two of them die each day waiting for a transplant (Organ, 2015). Many individuals are utilizing the black market as a means to receive an organ for themselves or a loved one because they feel it is the only option. Organ sales should be legal because of the increasing number of illegal activities surrounding the process; transplants will be done in a safe and managed environment, the poor will not be exploited by black market criminal activity, and the number of organs available will
Organ donation has come a long way in the past few decades, and there is evidence to support this, so organ donation will come to the point when 99.4% of a person can be used. There have been several advancements in organ donation, and if things keep progressing at the speed that it is now, this will be possible.
Where you reside impacts the amount of time you endure waiting for a kidney. Desperate patients travel across the country to get on a much briefer waiting list. Certain parts of a country may have less availability and higher demand for organs than others, such as New York and California being one of the toughest places to receive an organ. For example, Steve Jobs traveled to Tennessee to be presented with a liver transplant, after he was told he would not live long enough to wait on the long list in California. However, not everyone can afford to just get up and travel outside their home state for a new organ, which is why the UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) are operating a plan to grant everyone a fair opportunity to receive an organ by dividing the nation into eight new districts for a much broader sharing.
In the United States, there are over one hundred thousand people on the waiting list to receive a life-saving organ donation, yet only one out of four will ever receive that precious gift (Statistics & Facts, n.d.). The demand for organ donation has consistently exceeded supply, and the gap between the number of recipients on the waiting list and the number of donors has increased by 110% in the last ten years (O'Reilly, 2009). As a result, some propose radical new ideas to meet these demands, including the selling of human organs. Financial compensation for organs, which is illegal in the United States, is considered repugnant to many. The solution to this ethical dilemma isn’t found in a wallet; there are other alternatives available