Persuasive Essay On Organ Trafficking
Armando Fernandez
Professor A. Bond
PER 102
28 February 2015
Organ Trafficking In the United States, there are over one hundred twenty-three thousand people waiting to receive a life-saving organ donation, yet only about one out of every eight will ever receive that precious gift, and a second chance at life (optn.transplant.hrsa.gov) The demand for organ donation has consistently exceeded supply, and the gap between the number of recipients on the waiting list and the number of donors has increased by ninety-three percent since 1991 according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a result, some propose radical new ideas to meet the demands, including the legalization and sale of human organs. Financial compensation for …show more content…
In Iran, however, selling one 's kidney for profit is legal. There are no patients anguishing on the waiting list. The Iranians claim they have solved their kidney shortage by legalizing sales.
Many people will protest that an organ market will lead to exploitation and unfair advantages for the rich and powerful. But these are the same characteristics of the current illegal organ trade. Furthermore, as with drug prohibition today and alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, pushing a market underground is the way to make it predominant with violence and criminality.
In Japan, for the right price, you can buy organs harvested from executed Chinese prisoners. A few years ago in India, the authorities broke up an organ ring that had taken as many as 500 kidneys from poor laborers. The World Health Organization estimates that the black market accounts for 20 percent of kidney transplants worldwide. Everywhere from Latin America to the former Soviet Union, from the Philippines to South Africa, a huge network has developed characterized by threats, coercion, intimidation, extortion, and substandard …show more content…
Keeping in mind that it is estimated that a kidney donor will be able to lead a full live with just one kidney, the amount of medication and money spent on medical and surgical procedures is so high, that most regular medical insurance policies issue a cap on the amount a patient may receive. In contrast, what about the transplant recipient? This person may, at best, be purchasing 5 extra years of life. The most essential case for legalizing organ sales, an appeal to civil liberty, has proven highly controversial. Liberals like to say, "My body, my choice," and conservatives claim to favor free markets, but true self-ownership would also include the right to sell one 's body parts, and genuine free enterprise would imply a market in human organs. In any event, studies show that this has become a matter of life and death.
Perhaps the key to progress is more extensive exposure to the facts. In 2008, six experts took on this issue in a debate hosted by National Public Radio. By the end, those in the audience who favored legalizing the market climbed from 44 to 60
Professor A. Bond
PER 102
28 February 2015
Organ Trafficking In the United States, there are over one hundred twenty-three thousand people waiting to receive a life-saving organ donation, yet only about one out of every eight will ever receive that precious gift, and a second chance at life (optn.transplant.hrsa.gov) The demand for organ donation has consistently exceeded supply, and the gap between the number of recipients on the waiting list and the number of donors has increased by ninety-three percent since 1991 according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a result, some propose radical new ideas to meet the demands, including the legalization and sale of human organs. Financial compensation for …show more content…
In Iran, however, selling one 's kidney for profit is legal. There are no patients anguishing on the waiting list. The Iranians claim they have solved their kidney shortage by legalizing sales.
Many people will protest that an organ market will lead to exploitation and unfair advantages for the rich and powerful. But these are the same characteristics of the current illegal organ trade. Furthermore, as with drug prohibition today and alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, pushing a market underground is the way to make it predominant with violence and criminality.
In Japan, for the right price, you can buy organs harvested from executed Chinese prisoners. A few years ago in India, the authorities broke up an organ ring that had taken as many as 500 kidneys from poor laborers. The World Health Organization estimates that the black market accounts for 20 percent of kidney transplants worldwide. Everywhere from Latin America to the former Soviet Union, from the Philippines to South Africa, a huge network has developed characterized by threats, coercion, intimidation, extortion, and substandard …show more content…
Keeping in mind that it is estimated that a kidney donor will be able to lead a full live with just one kidney, the amount of medication and money spent on medical and surgical procedures is so high, that most regular medical insurance policies issue a cap on the amount a patient may receive. In contrast, what about the transplant recipient? This person may, at best, be purchasing 5 extra years of life. The most essential case for legalizing organ sales, an appeal to civil liberty, has proven highly controversial. Liberals like to say, "My body, my choice," and conservatives claim to favor free markets, but true self-ownership would also include the right to sell one 's body parts, and genuine free enterprise would imply a market in human organs. In any event, studies show that this has become a matter of life and death.
Perhaps the key to progress is more extensive exposure to the facts. In 2008, six experts took on this issue in a debate hosted by National Public Radio. By the end, those in the audience who favored legalizing the market climbed from 44 to 60