Pros And Cons Of Selling Human Organs

Since the National Organ Transplant Act was signed in 1984, it has been illegal to buy and sell human organs for transplantation. Even after this act was put in place, there is still an ongoing debate about whether it should become legal and about the ethics that come along with such a practice. This debate proposes the question, should the selling and purchasing of organs be legalized and is there a way to make this practice ethical? The answer to that question is, no! It should not be legal because the buying and selling of organs is unethical due to its ability to create an economic class war, lead towards exploitation of the poor, and cause the qualities of organs to decrease.

With the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, congress decided that the ban of selling organs was unethical due to it having the potential to give wealthier patients an unfair advantage of procuring an organ or tissues over those who are less financially well-off. When the organ is seen as a prize, the poor and middle-income patients will become priced-out of the market because of wealthy bidders. When the wealthy have the advantage of receiving an organ over someone who was poorer due to

their financial status this is a violation against human equality. It is a violation against human equality because they have the ability and the means to receive not only an organ, but more than likely one of the “healthier” organs, whereas, someone without the means would not have that same opportunity.
Another problem that could arise is the exploitation of the poor.

It is common knowledge that if people were to begin to receive monetary compensation for their organs, the poor would be more likely to sell. Organ brokers know that because the poor have families to feed, debt, and are desperate that they would be able to convince them to sell their organs in exchange for money and citizenship among other things. These brokers would be able to make money off of them – exploitation. After, they give up their organs brokers could then go back on their word, probably leaving them in worst shape than before. Even, if organ sales were ran through “legal” organ markets, they would be structured on the premises that the poor would be the primary suppliers with the richer being mostly on the receiving

end.
Subsequently, when we put a price on organs, we turn them into a commodity. This in turn would decrease the quality of the organs received. One reason for this is because when they are sold, they are primarily coming from the poor. The fact that they are poor there is a cause for concern. Often times the poor don’t receive adequate health care or have regular doctor’s appointments or have done drugs. This often times results in them having illnesses that they did not know about and that could potentially lessen the health and viability of the organs being harvested. Because it would be harder for patients from poorer backgrounds to buy the organ they need, they would be on the hunt for the “best deal” this could cause them to receive an organ that is not the healthiest. This could have a profound effect on the long-term health of the patient.
Purchasing and selling of organs is an unethical practice and should remain illegal. Problems that arise because of this practice being unethical are: it leads to the wealthy having unfair advantages over those whom are not as well off, the poor being exploited for their organs, which would decrease the quality of the organs that are obtained. These problems show that in the end Congress made the correct decision to pass the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.