The Pros And Cons Of Organ Donor Compensation

Going hand in hand with the point of incentive, if organ donor compensation was allowed, the waiting list to receive an organ transplant would be shorter. If organ donor compensation was legalized, there would be an abundance more organs donated and more lives would be saved. For instance, less than 20% of American adults are registered as organ donors and only 50% of brain dead patients’ families agree to donate their organs (Healy 2). This number is staggeringly low and shows that the chance that someone on the waiting list does not stand a good chance of receiving a kidney, at least not in time for their life to be saved. Approximately 73,000 people sit on the waiting list waiting for a kidney and 18 of them will die by tomorrow, and
There are many critics that believe that paying for organs is unethical. “The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the commercialization of human organs to be a ‘violation of human rights’ and ‘human dignity’’ (Ram 1). However, there are arguments against this statement because many more people find it more unethical for organs to be sold on the black market or harvested from people for a profit illegally. Without regulation to help more people receive organs, some people may receive organs from executed prisoners in China, or a Chinese prisoner shot specifically for their organs to be sold (“Is it…” 37). According to this article, some people would rather see people being killed for their organs than to allow someone to sell their organ, which they do not have to have to maintain life, for a profit. Becker states, compensation would sufficiently lower the number of organs donated from altruistic motives to dominate the increase due to those sold commercially. Also, doctors and physicians have tried preventing the legalization of organ donor paying by stretching organs to make them available for more than one person. Physicians have tried stretching donated livers to put the tissue into two different patients. They have also tried to develop fake organs to keep people alive long enough to get real ones (Healy 3). However, the question is why would people believe that
"Allowing the Sale of Organs Will Increase the Number of Donations." Organ Donation, edited by Laura Egendorf, Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Accessed 7 Nov. 2017. Originally published as "Should the Purchase and Sales of Organs for Transplant Surgery Be Permitted?" The Becker-Posner Blog, 1 Jan. 2006.
Epstein, Miran. "Organ Transplants Should Be Rare and Not for Gain." Medical Ethics, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Accessed 7 Nov. 2017. Originally published as "The Organ Crisis," Project Syndicate, 26 Mar. 2010.
Eskildson, Loyd. "6,500 Die in the U.S.A. Yearly from Organ Donor Shortages." Basil & Spice, 27 Sept. 2009. EBSCOhost.
Gregory, Anthony. "The Selling of Organs Should be Legalized." Organ Donation, edited by Laura Egendorf, Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Accessed 7 Nov. 2017. Originally published as "Why Legalizing Organ Sales Would Help to Save Lives, End Violence," The Atlantic, 9 Nov. 2011.
Healy, Melissa. "The Changing Rules of Organ Donation." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), 01 Nov, 2004, pp. F1+, SIRS Issues