Buying and Selling of Human Body Organs (Essay Sample)

Buying and selling of human body organs
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Organ donation is a noble act that deserves approval and appreciation. Many Ethical issues surround this practice especially when suggestions of compensation to the people giving organs are involved. The magnanimity of organ donation has always been noticed. No shame has been involved where an organ is received too. However, as Lewis Burrows observes, there still is a shortage of organs. He goes on to suggest that, an open and regulated market would greatly help in the elimination of this shortage (Satris, 2015). Financial compensation, he says, would catalyze organ donations. He counters the fear of abuse of the practice where either an organ sales black market would thrive or other abuses may occur. Proper regulation of organ selling would ensure that this does not occur. While challenges may be posed in maintaining an effective and sensible regulation plan, it seems to be the best option for ensuring that availability of organs to patients who need transplants is not tied to the availability of a willing donor only.
Burrows view on how to increase the availability of organs for transplant is with good intentions. It intends to increase the source pool for organs. Laws in countries across the world do not allow the commercialization of organ donation. This is mostly because; it exposes many people to dangers like exploitation, forced organs removal, and even murder. All this may be done in order to obtain organs for sale. This may affect more people harshly in the third world, where, laws prohibiting such transactions have not been enacted or are not implemented (Satris, 2015). This is mostly due to inefficient governments, corruption or logistic issues among others. If strict and organized means of regulation are employed, such dangers may be averted and more people may gain access to organs even when there is no willing donor.
James Childress counters this by stating that this results in changing the human body into a commodity. He says that organ donation has always been a means of giving gifts, being generous and a way of showing magnanimity and that it should be made to stay so. He places a high value on the generosity that drives the act of donation. He is of the opinion that governments should not change laws to accommodate organ trade transaction trade. However, He recognizes and understands circumstances where people sell their organs (Satris, 2015). His opinion is that commercialization of organs may increase distrust due to the intricacies of the trade thus rendering organs availability even lower than it is under the current legal set-up.
Contrary to Childress’s opinion, availability of organs for transplant will be higher when compensation for organs is legalized. Burrows states that, donation of organs by a family member to another or between friends is usually easier than between strangers. This is usually out of genuine love and general family welfare instinct. Many people have also been known to donate to strangers out of genuine generosity. Modifying legal structures to allow for compensation of organ donations only increases the organ source pool espe...