Legalization of Organ Trade
In 2014, 4,270 people died while being on the kidney transplant list; those 4,270 do not include the 3,617 people who were also on the wait list who became too ill to receive a kidney. Even though 17,000 kidneys were donated in 2014, 12 people continue to die every day due to the shortage of organ availability through organ donation (The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) Annual Report, UNOS, and United States Renal Data System. "Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics."). A recent ethical argument has risen regarding a possible alternative to help decrease the organ shortage. The alternative …show more content…
Mary 's Hospital in London pointed out that "this trade is going on anyway, why not have a controlled trade where if someone wants to donate a kidney for a particular price, that would be acceptable? (Gregory 2011) The purpose for the black market whether it’s for drugs, exotic animals, or organs exists because there are laws against those things. If you take away the laws regarding organ purchasing the black market will not disappear but it will substantially decrease black market activity. The argument regarding the rich being the only ones who would benefit from the legalization of organs is irrelevant when you consider that the only reason the black market exists are because of the buyers “the rich”. Paying donors in the USA could eliminate organ trafficking, wealthy people from North America and western Europe provide economic support for organ trafficking/ the black market (Shetty 2009). Without a buyer there is no need for a seller.
In conclusion the need for organs is at an all-time high and demand is not going to decrease anytime soon, but the number of organs purchased illegally from the black market will continue you to rise. Organ purchasing should be legalized because it has the ability to save many lives, people have the right to control what enters or exists their bodies, and the black market will continue to grow until the demand is taken
In 2014, 4,270 people died while being on the kidney transplant list; those 4,270 do not include the 3,617 people who were also on the wait list who became too ill to receive a kidney. Even though 17,000 kidneys were donated in 2014, 12 people continue to die every day due to the shortage of organ availability through organ donation (The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) Annual Report, UNOS, and United States Renal Data System. "Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics."). A recent ethical argument has risen regarding a possible alternative to help decrease the organ shortage. The alternative …show more content…
Mary 's Hospital in London pointed out that "this trade is going on anyway, why not have a controlled trade where if someone wants to donate a kidney for a particular price, that would be acceptable? (Gregory 2011) The purpose for the black market whether it’s for drugs, exotic animals, or organs exists because there are laws against those things. If you take away the laws regarding organ purchasing the black market will not disappear but it will substantially decrease black market activity. The argument regarding the rich being the only ones who would benefit from the legalization of organs is irrelevant when you consider that the only reason the black market exists are because of the buyers “the rich”. Paying donors in the USA could eliminate organ trafficking, wealthy people from North America and western Europe provide economic support for organ trafficking/ the black market (Shetty 2009). Without a buyer there is no need for a seller.
In conclusion the need for organs is at an all-time high and demand is not going to decrease anytime soon, but the number of organs purchased illegally from the black market will continue you to rise. Organ purchasing should be legalized because it has the ability to save many lives, people have the right to control what enters or exists their bodies, and the black market will continue to grow until the demand is taken