Body Organs As A Comodity
Donating body parts is a noble thing. By giving out certain organs, such as a kidney or liver, a person can likely extend someone else's life. In most cases, the only people who would do that are either family or friends, since donating these body parts means that the person will never be whole again and has to suffer the effects of losing those organs for the rest of their life. But under certain situations, people will donate their organs to people completely unrelated to them, not out of goodwill, but because they were being paid, even though it was often viewed as unethical, and in most parts of the world, illegal.
As I said in my other post, I am more of a person who promotes bodily autonomy, and when it comes to religion, they really do not have any grievances when it comes to organ donation, so all is good, right? Not really, because when someone is in desperate need of money, they often make things they do not want or do not know of the future consequences of, and when that happens, people are more of being forced to make that choice rather than them having the freedom to choose by themselves.
Even though the reason some people donate their organs was for money, at the end of the day, it remains a fact that they help save a person's life, but the reason that I am not ok with this is that for people to sell their organs, they are likely in a very difficult situation and often cannot think properly. And because of that, not only were they forced to make a decision they might regret later, but there is also a chance that they are insufficiently paid if we consider the time that the donor needs to recover and adjust to their incomplete body. But because the donors only see the money before them, they would not think of the possible consequences. At the same time, in the off chance that the patient rejects the organ, there is a possibility that the donor will receive much less money or nothing at all, because there was really nothing to hold the opposite back, not even with a contract, since it is all illegal. So even if the donor shows that contract to the law enforcement, chances are it will only give him more trouble than help.
So, rather than making organ selling illegal, I think it is better for the government to take over the trade and make sure that the donors will get enough orientation on all the possible complications that will come after donating an organ. If, after that, the donors still proceed with the transplant, then it is up to the government to make sure that the donor will get proper compensation, regardless of whether or not the patient accepts or rejects their organ as well as they received the proper care after the operation, so that they can return to society properly, even with a losing organ.
Another thing that we could do to reduce the sale of body organs is to increase the supply of the needed organs by having people who have recently passed away donate their organs to patients in need. As far as I know, there are forms that people can fill out that say they are willing to donate their body parts when they pass away, but they are not really utilized by people because it has barely been endorsed to people. But if it is used correctly, not only can it reduce the demand for selling organs, it can also increase the number of patients to survive.
There are many patients who are in desperate need of organs to survive, and so as desperate people who need money to survive. Unless the needs of both parties are met, the market for body organs will not disappear.
Thank you for reading my post, and see you in the next one!
