Organ Donation: Keeping the Gift of Life Alive
Organ Donation: Keeping the Gift of Life Alive
The process of gift giving is the act in which someone voluntarily offers a present for someone else, without compensation. Although there are certain instances where reciprocity of gifts is expected, organ donation should not be a game of Secret Santa. Across the nation, people in need of transplants sit on a waiting list while the war on organ donation ethics continues. Some people are on the list up until their demise or get lucky, much like psychiatrist and author Sally Satel did. In her article “Death’s Waiting List”, Satel speaks of her fortunate experience of receiving a donated kidney and then proceeds to her desire to allow the market sale of human organs, so that others can be as opportune as she was (Critical Reading Thinking and Writing 133). On the contrary, Donald Joralemon and Phil Cox, authors of the article “Body Values: The Case Against Compensating for Transplant Organs,” believe the market sale of organs will lead to an increase in objectification of the human body (The Hastings Center Report 29). The most rational solution to our nation’s organ donation debate is to initiate the practice of “Presumed Consent,” the policy in which all citizens are to be considered a donor at death, unless they sign an anti-donor card (Satel 133). By enforcing presumed consent, Satel’s proposal of financial compensation is eliminated and Joralemon and Cox’s apprehension towards the human body becoming property is compromised, allowing for voluntary gifts of life and a greater supply of organs.
In her essay, Satel proclaims that selling human organs is the best solution to increase the amount of donors. She mentions her awareness to the seemingly unethical concept, but disregards the concept of moral values in a desperate manner. The argument here is the “body as self” versus “body as property” view, as explained by Joralemon and Cox (30). The “body as self” view focuses on a person’s identity thought to remain
The process of gift giving is the act in which someone voluntarily offers a present for someone else, without compensation. Although there are certain instances where reciprocity of gifts is expected, organ donation should not be a game of Secret Santa. Across the nation, people in need of transplants sit on a waiting list while the war on organ donation ethics continues. Some people are on the list up until their demise or get lucky, much like psychiatrist and author Sally Satel did. In her article “Death’s Waiting List”, Satel speaks of her fortunate experience of receiving a donated kidney and then proceeds to her desire to allow the market sale of human organs, so that others can be as opportune as she was (Critical Reading Thinking and Writing 133). On the contrary, Donald Joralemon and Phil Cox, authors of the article “Body Values: The Case Against Compensating for Transplant Organs,” believe the market sale of organs will lead to an increase in objectification of the human body (The Hastings Center Report 29). The most rational solution to our nation’s organ donation debate is to initiate the practice of “Presumed Consent,” the policy in which all citizens are to be considered a donor at death, unless they sign an anti-donor card (Satel 133). By enforcing presumed consent, Satel’s proposal of financial compensation is eliminated and Joralemon and Cox’s apprehension towards the human body becoming property is compromised, allowing for voluntary gifts of life and a greater supply of organs.
In her essay, Satel proclaims that selling human organs is the best solution to increase the amount of donors. She mentions her awareness to the seemingly unethical concept, but disregards the concept of moral values in a desperate manner. The argument here is the “body as self” versus “body as property” view, as explained by Joralemon and Cox (30). The “body as self” view focuses on a person’s identity thought to remain
Cited: Satel, Sally. “Death’s Waiting List.” Critical Thinking Reading and Writing. Boston; New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 132-134. Joralemon, Donald., Phil “Body Values: The Case Against Compensation for Transplant Organs”. The Hastings Center Report. 33, 1. (Jan – Feb., 2003): 27-33.