Persuasive Essay On Organ Donation

Organ Selling

For decades organ transplants have saved the lives of countless patients in need. However, over time, the gap between the supply and demand of donated organs has alarmingly widened. The shortage of altruistic donors raises the argument of whether the United States government should legalize commercial transplantation. Ethical discussions exhibit polarized debates of the topic, however, to efficiently save money and lives, the selling of organs should be legal.

In 1984, the United States government passed the National Organ Transplant Act. This law, which prohibits the buying and selling of organs, was created to allocate organs fairly and efficiently. However, the system in place today is no longer efficient. In 2016, the US

Department of Health and Human Services reported that 121,678 people were waiting for life-saving organ transplants. Furthermore, Rupert Major points out that, of these 121,678 people, only 10% would go on to receive an organ. Due to increased prevalence of diseases common to a ‘western’ lifestyle, the number of patients with chronic organ failure is rising. Thus, the necessity of more altruistic donors has become more evident over the past decades. As this pressure increases, the United States needs to consider the idea of financial compensation for organ donors.
When Iran legalized the sale of organs in 1988, the number of transplants had almost doubled (Major). Iran’s well-developed system of providing incentives indisputably drew out more organ donors, solving the donor shortage and, consequently, saving the lives of thousands. Advocates of the Iranian model also insist that they have cleared their waitlist, and there is now no waiting time (Major). Legalizing a market for organs in the U. S. would bring the wait list down to zero people, thus effectively saving thousands of lives yearly.
Today, the ban encourages an international black market, where desperate people end up buying organs, without protection or proper medical care (Berger). As the CATO institute affirms, these illegal practices have led to many deaths due to infections and malpractice. With a regulated organ market, patients would no longer need to take these measures, and the black market would be eliminated, thus saving the lives of many transplant patients.
Along with saving lives, commercial transplantation would also save patients, donors, and taxpaying citizens thousands of dollars. For instance, the average estimated cost of dialysis is up to $70,000 per annum per patient (Major). By receiving an organ quickly from a compensated donor, a patient would be saving the money otherwise spent on dialysis due to years on the transplant list. Although the recipient’s insurance covers donors' immediate medical care, donors have to pay costs of travel and are not compensated for lost wages. Payment for organ donation would aid in covering any donor expenses. Finally, taxpayers might also benefit financially because the support of a kidney transplant recipient is less costly than dialysis.