The sales of organs have always been the forefront of debate topics in America. When someone dies, his heirs own his body organs just as they own his other properties. These heirs can sell, give away or ignore these organs(Boudreaux, 2006). Some say you should be allowed to sell your organs because they are your property while others say you should not be allowed to because of morals. In America you are allowed to be an organ donor, which basically means you are allowed to donate your organs once you pass away but no other time before that.
Over the past decade, the number of people waiting for life-saving organs has grown from 35,000 to 87,000, while the number of organ donors has remained flat(Berman, 2005). There is a huge black market full of organs and blood being sold each and every day. You are also allowed to donate blood here, and you will usually get things in return such as free movie tickets or t-shirts. Since these organs are your property, I believe you should be able to sell them. Organ donor has been marked on the licenses of those people who choose to be but that is only after death, not any time before.
If this is true, you should be allowed to donate them before death. It is understood you have doubles of some organs and you can survive with only one, but if something happens to that one then you are stuck. But that is a decision the donor must be able to face. If you are able to donate an organ and still function and carry out a normal life while saving another life then there should be no problem. The problem is when people do this without being tested for various things like malfunctions and other diseases that could alter how well the organ performs.
Yet, if the price is right and the seller willing, why not be allowed to sell a kidney? (Hall, 2002). This happens usually with people who haven’t been tested properly or organs that have been sold on the black market. Some people say this is unfair because of donor waiting lists. These lists include everyone in the United States or at least that area who are waiting for a certain organ. Once this organ is being donated whoever is eligible on the list first will get it but when organs are sold, this list will be destroyed.
You could simply move to the top of the list just by having the amount of money the seller would like to sell it for. Although this might not be the fairest way, it would still be saving another life. The most common objection to kidney selling is expressed on behalf of the vendors; the exploited poor, who need to be protected against the greedy rich(Lock, 1998). If the government found a way to regulate the sales and prices then this would make for a more fair system and a better way to purchase and sell. You could have trained doctors doing the transfers of organs which would make things safer than they are right now.
Hall page #2 The other view is people saying that no matter the circumstance that is it immoral because everyone is created equal and you must live your life the way that is has been set for you. In some cases this might be true such as for people who have drinking problems or other problems. But in some cases people are born with such diseases where they cannot control what happens to their bodies. You have to see the situation from both points of view. It is a way to save another person’s life and if you truly are a healthy person who can function without this organ than why would you not save another life.
Only healthy, screened persons would be able to donate their organs and not just people who are alcoholics or on drugs and looking for an easy way to make money. The main problem would be government regulations. I believe selling organs legally would be the best solution for Americans. Right now people will do whatever they can to survive even if that means to buy them illegally. It comes to a life or death situation and then things become to the point where they can wait on this list for months or even years or just find a way out from buying it.
If we can find a way to regulate the sales of organs and/or blood I think it could help the American society and thousands of people yearly. Life is supposed to be a joyous thing but when you don’t know if you will live another day all the joy is taken away. By doing such a small thing like selling an organ you are able to add so much joy to someone’s life and even prolong it. To me, that sounds like a very noble thing to do, and I believe it should be done here in America just to make the world that much of a better place for the healthy and unhealthy to live.
Works Cited
1) Berman, R. (2005, August 10). Selling organs should be legal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ai.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/319501120/13AAA2CAFCE3BF3FCAA/1?accountid=130772 2) Lock, M. (1998, July 06). The case for selling human organs: A group of prominent doctors and ethicists argue we should reconsider our ban on the sale of non- vital organs..
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ai.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/240170058/13AAA2AD8CC6FDBD8B8/3?accountid=130772 3) Boudreaux, D. (2006, July 10). Selling organs; two alternate plans. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ai.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/382556250/13AAA2AD8CC6FDBD8B8/4?accountid=130772 4) Hall, J. (2002, November 29).
Opening up the market for organs ; support grows for selling body parts donors for profit don’t really benefit: [ontario edition]. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ai.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/438515158/13AAA2AD8CC6FDBD8B8/5?accountid=130772
