Should The Legalization Of Human Body Organs Be Legally Regulated?

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Recommended: Ethical dilemmas of legalizing organ sales

The trade in organs for transplantation is a growing moral and ethical issue that is facing society today. The demand for body parts outstrips supply and this situation has given rise to calls for organ trade to be legalized and therefore properly regulated.

I believe the trade in human body organs is critical to human dignity for a variety of reasons. Dignity is concerned with the feelings of people, their thoughts and behavior in relation to the worth of themselves and others (Royal College of Nursing, 2008). People have and ought to treat each other with dignity just by virtue of being a member of the human race and based on possession of one or more human capabilities. Human can either possess or lose dignity through a sense of self worth …show more content…

The proposal is that any legal prohibition against selling kidneys be removed. The authors do not advocates for a free for all system but a regulated system where people will sell their kidney to a central agency which will then organize the transplantation of kidneys to the needy. The recipients won’t be able to buy kidneys direct from sellers. There are certain advantages and disadvantages resulting from such a proposal. One compelling argument for allowing legal kidney sales is that the authors believe that it will result in the number of kidneys and other organ tissues available for transplant increasing thereby saving lives. One of the views that I can deduce from perspective 1 is that every human being has a basic right to control their own life. This implies that the respect for human dignity and autonomy calls for a respect for each individual’s decisions. According to Wilkinson (2012), every adult human being of sound mind has the capacity to decide what can and should be done with his or her own body. Freedom of choice and capacity to make autonomous decisions is one of the values that people possess by virtue of being human. Such an understanding of human dignity can be categorized as being in quadrant 1B. As the trade in organs considered morally reprehensible, the sellers of kidneys are likely to lose their dignity in …show more content…

The issue was explored by considering two perspectives to organ trading, that is, the first perspective advocates for allowing a regulated trade in human body organs whilst the second perspective seeks to ban human organ trading. The essay illustrates the importance of considering human dignity as being multidimensional as humans are rational and spiritual beings who live in social settings, have interpersonal relationships, and have moral standards that have evolved over generations. Therefore, any attempts to increase the supply of human body organs have to evaluate the effects of such measures on human

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