The Legalization of Organ Sale: Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Over 120,000 citizens within the United States spend their days waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. Every twelve minutes another name is added to that waiting list, for a total of 43,800 additions to the waiting list per year, and yet only a mere 28,000 organ transplants occur a year (American Transplant Foundation). This deficit has led to a massive, unregulated black market for organ transplants which are oftentimes unsafe (Taylor). The United States not only contributes directly to this problem through existing legislation, but also violates natural law and engages in unconstitutional behavior through criminalizing the sale of human organs capable of transplant while …show more content…
There have, after all, been enough instances of rampant organ harvesting, even among countries where sale remains illegal, that many fear the problem will only grow greater with legalization (Taylor). It is with this in mind that the American judicial system has spent decades emphasizing the potential slippery slope of perceiving the human body as a commodity, believing organ sale may only serve to devalue human life rather than help protect it (Cohen, Schwark). In addition, many fear that the legalization of organ trafficking would advance the black market economy, since the average underprivileged vendor would be unlikely to have access to legal representation, effectively eliminating any advantages of the legalized market (Taylor). These are certainly valid concerns and it is extremely important that they be addressed before any steps are taken toward the legalization of organ sale. Both concerns, however, have an underlying assumption of insufficient regulation. Perceiving the system as one where no regulation exists regarding how an organ is obtained. Under such an economy, organ sale would indeed open the doors to a multitude of complications, the best being fraud and the worst being human organ harvesting. Thus, it is natural to understand that such a system is both unreasonable and impossible. Any market economy for human organs must have a regulatory agency in place to enforce …show more content…
The United States was founded upon an intricate check and balance system. Each aspect of the government was delicately and precisely placed to ensure that power was spread out and not consolidated in one area. One of the largest considerations within this construction was the balance between government and citizen. This was the reason for our constitution –to protect the fundamental rights of United States citizens. Unfortunately, the ban on organ sale is a direct contradiction of a citizen’s constitutional rights (Kirby). The criminalization of organ trafficking is a contradiction of existing endowed rights to life, dignity and property (Kirby). These rights together provide for the right to self-determination which includes control over an individual’s own bodily organs. The right to self-determination is a basic human right which is, to paraphrase a United Nations statement, an individual’s basic right to determine, free of coercion or compulsion, their own future, political status, and independence. Simply put, each individual is inherently free to live their life as they so choose, as long as it does not infringe upon another individual’s right to do the same (Wilkinson). The current legislation regarding organ trafficking directly contradicts this right by prohibiting the right to freedom and restricting possession of personal
Over 120,000 citizens within the United States spend their days waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. Every twelve minutes another name is added to that waiting list, for a total of 43,800 additions to the waiting list per year, and yet only a mere 28,000 organ transplants occur a year (American Transplant Foundation). This deficit has led to a massive, unregulated black market for organ transplants which are oftentimes unsafe (Taylor). The United States not only contributes directly to this problem through existing legislation, but also violates natural law and engages in unconstitutional behavior through criminalizing the sale of human organs capable of transplant while …show more content…
There have, after all, been enough instances of rampant organ harvesting, even among countries where sale remains illegal, that many fear the problem will only grow greater with legalization (Taylor). It is with this in mind that the American judicial system has spent decades emphasizing the potential slippery slope of perceiving the human body as a commodity, believing organ sale may only serve to devalue human life rather than help protect it (Cohen, Schwark). In addition, many fear that the legalization of organ trafficking would advance the black market economy, since the average underprivileged vendor would be unlikely to have access to legal representation, effectively eliminating any advantages of the legalized market (Taylor). These are certainly valid concerns and it is extremely important that they be addressed before any steps are taken toward the legalization of organ sale. Both concerns, however, have an underlying assumption of insufficient regulation. Perceiving the system as one where no regulation exists regarding how an organ is obtained. Under such an economy, organ sale would indeed open the doors to a multitude of complications, the best being fraud and the worst being human organ harvesting. Thus, it is natural to understand that such a system is both unreasonable and impossible. Any market economy for human organs must have a regulatory agency in place to enforce …show more content…
The United States was founded upon an intricate check and balance system. Each aspect of the government was delicately and precisely placed to ensure that power was spread out and not consolidated in one area. One of the largest considerations within this construction was the balance between government and citizen. This was the reason for our constitution –to protect the fundamental rights of United States citizens. Unfortunately, the ban on organ sale is a direct contradiction of a citizen’s constitutional rights (Kirby). The criminalization of organ trafficking is a contradiction of existing endowed rights to life, dignity and property (Kirby). These rights together provide for the right to self-determination which includes control over an individual’s own bodily organs. The right to self-determination is a basic human right which is, to paraphrase a United Nations statement, an individual’s basic right to determine, free of coercion or compulsion, their own future, political status, and independence. Simply put, each individual is inherently free to live their life as they so choose, as long as it does not infringe upon another individual’s right to do the same (Wilkinson). The current legislation regarding organ trafficking directly contradicts this right by prohibiting the right to freedom and restricting possession of personal