The buying and selling of human organs is among the many contemporary issues that have garnered both media and public attention in recent years. Civilians, medical professionals, and governments have had diverging opinions regarding the trade. Trafficking human organs occurs in three distinct methods. The most common occurrence is when victims agree to sell organs (either formally or informally), but are not paid or are paid less than the promised amount. In other cases, traffickers deceive or force victims to give up their organs; in the final instance, the organs are removed without the victim’s knowledge. Trading human organs has become more prevalent in recent years and has had far-reaching effects, both negative and positive, on society. The increase in human trafficking for the purpose of organ retrieval has had devastating effects among the illiterate and homeless populations as well as migrant and immigrant workers. Considering both the negative and positive impacts on society, the question that arises is: Should trading in human organs be legalized? The answer is no. Medical safety and moral imperatives dictate that organ trading should not be legal because it would corrupt the process of safe organ donation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) outlines that the search for human organs has intensified since 2003 due to the increase in diseases and the lack of healthy organs to meet the prevailing demand. Among the countries who participate most in the organ trade are Iraq, Indonesia, India, South Africa, and Brazil. In these countries, victims can earn between $2,000 and $6,000 by selling an organ such as a kidney (Boucher, Duquet & Quebec, 2004). Although these donors are helping save the lives of many persons in need of healthy organs, the lucrative prices only serve to exploit the poor and donors face many health risks after the operation because there is little or no post-operation care. Research indicates that despite receiving the money for their organ, most donors are left worse-off (NEED A PROPER CITATION FOR THIS RESEARCH). Legalizing the organ trade would only serve to compromise the quality of human life because many of the most active nations in organ trading cannot meet the requirements for conducting safe organ removal operations and post removal care.
Corruption and poverty are fundamental themes behind the organ trade in exchange because most donors see it as the only opportunity to make money. In places such as India individuals use kidneys as security for loans. These are desperate people in need of money. They do not engage in organ trading for any moral or spiritual reason but are forced to sell their body parts because of their economic status (Espejo, 2003). Legalizing the trade will, therefore, lead to many underprivileged people losing their organs to the affluent which will consequently create a more unequal society where the poor suffer disproportionately to the rich.
The determination to survive and liberate themselves from poverty can lead to a lack of feelings and connections between people. Boucher, Duquet & Quebec, 2004, refers to this habit as “solving a problem through the creation of a much bigger problem” (Boucher, Duquet & Quebec, 2004 p. ??). Selling organs becomes the means to an end instead of a good deed done to help another human being. Organs should be donated voluntarily rather than as a motive to obtain money. Selling organs is an unscrupulous human cannibalism that has no place in healthcare and effective rules must be formulated and implemented. Legalizing the sale of organs is unethical and contradicts professional ethics. There should be no room for legalizing the trade since the professional code of conduct doctors bars doctors from professionally engaging in money-driven transplants (Espejo, 2003).
Organ replacement surgery is a great accomplishment in medicine. However, those who want the trading in organs legalized want to exploit the advances made in science and technology. Under no circumstance should human organs be made a market asset (Espejo, 2003). Legalizing the trade is a repulsive action that will benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. If organs become just another commodity to buy and sell, they might eventually be out of reach for common civilians. The poor who are currently benefiting from organ donations will then have to purchase the organs at a stipulated price. Legalization of the trade will therefore generate serious health problems, especially in developing countries where people’s economic situations are considerably lower than in developed Western societies.
The black-market for human organs has been in existence for a long period of time. Some people believe that legalizing the trade will solve the issue of black-markets and stabilize the prices of the organs. However, Espejo, 2003, perceives this as a constrained view of the real issues confronting humanity. Boucher, Duquet & Quebec, 2004, believe that legalizing the trade will attract more players into the sector and soon it will be a booming industry. Moreover, legalizing the trade will not help solve the demand, as the money incentive might not be appealing enough to lure rational people into donating the organs. Rather than legalizing the trade, governments should accommodate willing donors as well as have potential donors sign the sufficient forms necessary to donate their organs once they are dead.
Some studies show that legalizing trade or sale of human organs would help to reduce the risk involved in the black market of the human organs which includes transmission of diseases when the donor withholds their medical information. On the other hand, there are cases of compromising recipient’s and the donor’s health. In most cases, when the organs are removed from the donor and introduced in the black market, the process of removal is not under appropriate medical supervision. Therefore, such studies show that there is a need to legalize the human organ trade so that professional medical professionals are performing the removal surgeries. However, an important issue arises—what kind of control can an individual have to ensure the human organ trade is happening legally. This leads to questions of the donor acting under duress and complex issue of human trafficking for the express purpose of organ trade.
If the trade of human organs is legalized, there could be an increase in other illicit activities in attempts to obtain organ. Knowing that the trade of human organs is legal, human may become more active so that they can increase their profits. Legalized organ trade would result in high demand of the organs, hence more value of the human organs (Caplan & Council of Europe, 2009). Consequently, illegal activities such as murdering and organ theft would increase for the purpose of acquiring of “valuable” organs. In order to reduce the demand for human organs and, as a result reduce instances of murdering for human organs, organ stealing and kidnapping, the organ trade should not be legal.
A legalized trade for human organs would also lead to coerced or pressurized donations. There would emerge an economy where the donor would be coerced to trade their organs due to desperate financial need. In this case, the donor would be engaged in involuntary donation because they would be driven by the need for money rather than their own will. As a result, this would raise the question of whether the donor essentially consented to sell their organs. Another reason why the human organ trade should not be legalized is that the willing donors will be donating their organs to unknown and unrelated recipients.
In an argument for the legalization of human organ trade, some argue that providing organs through unselfish donation or trade helps save the life of a person who is in need of the organ. Therefore, trading of human organs cannot be termed as violation of human dignity. They argue that people who sell their organs benefit the community at large and specifically the person who is in need of such organ (Scheper-Hughes, 2002). However, trading human organs is also morally and ethically unaccepted. Traditionally, human rights and medical association groups from every part of the world have condemned the selling and buying of human organs. For example, the WHO termed trading of human organs as violation of human dignity and human rights. Some specialists in the medical profession also argue that it is unethical and immoral to trade human organs as “human spare parts” (Caplan & Council of Europe, 2009, p. ??). According to the International Commission of Health Professionals for Health and Human Rights (ICHPHHR), it is “vile, deplorable and morally reprehensible development” to sell or buy human organs (NEEDS PROPER CITATION FOR THIS DIRECT QUOTE). In addition, if donation is about saving another life, the practice could be done voluntarily because it is unethical and immoral to be compensated for saving somebody’s life.
In conclusion, the problem of human trafficking requires aggressive efforts to curb this human rights violation and international crime by addressing the causes of the problem. As demonstrated by the argument above, it is evident that legalizing human organs trade does not only facilitate human trafficking, but also various activities that violate human rights. For example, in the end, legalizing this trade will only be benefiting the rich, and thus exploit the poor. Selling human organs will not be any different than a prostitute selling her body for money. Therefore, it is an immoral and unethical idea. Donors should be allowed to give their organs out of the goodness of their heart. To solve the problem of the insufficient human organs, a centralized organ donation bank should be established to allow voluntary donation of human organs. This organziation should also develop infrastructure that ensures legal availability of donor organs. Furthermore, an intervention is needed to ensure that there is vigorous public awareness campaign on emphasizing the significance of donating organs. Permitting selling and buying of organs will develop widespread crime and other social problems, and, therefore, should not be legalized.
References
Boucher, D., Duquet, D., & Québec (Province) (2004). Organ donation and transplantation: Ethical dilemmas due to shortage. Sainte-Foy, Qué: Commission de l'éthique, de la Science et de la technologie.
Caplan, A. L., & Council of Europe (2009). Trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs: Joint Council of Europe/United Nations study. France: Council of Europe/United Nations.
Espejo, R. (2003). Biomedical ethics: Opposing viewpoints. San Diego, Calif: Greenhaven Press.
Price, D. P. (2009). Human tissue in transplantation and research: A model legal and ethical donation framework. Cambridge [U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Scheper-Hughes, N. (2002). “The Global Traffic in Human Organs” Current Anthropology Vol 41, No 2. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CA/journal/issues/v41n2/002001/0 02001.text. html: 07/05/2014
