Legalization of Organ Trade. In the market-driven society that we live in, the shortage of highly demanded human organs has led to the commercialization of organ trading and a massive black-market for organs where people can illegally purchase and sell o

There are also some cases, as this has happened in the U.S., where black market organ brokers cooperate with corrupted funeral home and have organs harvested before the bodies are cremated. In this situation, falsified papers are made and the organs are ‘legitimately’ dealt to an institution such as the American research facility.

There are also many extreme cases of organ theft or organ trafficking as well. Organ theft is where people are “forcibly brought to clinics, held at gunpoint and then forced to undergo operations [for the extraction of the their organ(s)] that they didn't want”. This has been a very important issue for countries like China, India and Pakistan, where most of these organ thefts are brought out.

This goes to show the extent to which organized criminal activity is occurring in light of the need for organs. The exploitation of innocent people and fraud amongst many institutions put more and more innocent lives at risk. As the global black-market for organs is steadily increasing, this presents many social issues for a lot of the countries.

The fact that these organ retrieval operations happen in remote locations, present many ethical issues as well such as the safety and the hygiene in retrieving these organs. In many of these situations, it is not ensured that all the equipment used is sterilized and the operation itself is of standard or performed by a professional.

With that being said, although organ trading is considered an unethical act, the high demand for organs have led to implications and events that are, to some extent, worst off than a legalized globalized market for organs. These implications such as organ theft, arguably, presents an issue that is of a greater matter than ethicality; as innocent lives are either endangered, exploited or murdered for their organs. This imposes the question of why not legalize the global organ trade, as it could reduce the activity of illegal organ trading and can be an act towards ensuring the safety of many people. Also, as we are entering a new era in which human body parts are already becoming commodities available for distribution, it imposes the question of why organs shouldn’t be legal commodities?

There are legal and ethical issues associated with the legalization of organ trade. First and foremost, it is a violation of human rights already; the World Health Organization stated that the buying of the human body parts for transplantation should be condemned. In addition The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 prohibits any sale of human organs for the purpose of transplantation, citing issues of economics and ethical responsibility. However, it would be an act of paternalism if organ trading were forbidden, since people are allowed to do whatever they want with themselves. According to the Harm principle, it is morally acceptable for someone to give or sell their organs if they wanted to, as long as it is doing no harm to anyone else.

The legalization of organ trade could arguably affect the whole society negatively in changing the way we view and value our bodies. This is because we live in a society where we learn to preserve and value our bodies as humans only get to live once. The legalization of organ trade could impose different views such as suggesting that people who sell and/or buy organs are cheating through life. It can also be seen as violating the respect for human dignity and the principles of equity and justice.

However after considering the thousands of humans lives at stake, whether it is the innocent people who are ambushed and kidnapped for their organs or the long list of patients in need, it is evident that legalizing organ trade is the right thing to do.

Since most types of human tissues are already being used, as a commodity for transplant and experimental uses of bones, cartilages and blood vessels, etc., as mentioned before, why shouldn’t human organs be used as commodities as well? The main argument is that the human body is not a property. However, this is only due to the civilization of different ages where we humans have developed a set of societal values and ethics and our views on the utilization of the human body are viewed as unethical. In the past, human body parts were utilized for various purposes. For example, back from the time of Cro-Magnon man and Neanderthal mam, the human body was used as food; cannibalism. Other examples include the use of human body parts for medical treatment and medicine, which still happens now. In many ways the legalization and utilization of organ trade is acceptable as it is just a form of recycling the human body.  

The legalization of organ trade could bring freedom to those who want to sell their organ. For example, it could be a way of bringing ‘justice’ to some people who think they will be brain-dead or sick anyways. Also, for the poor, who will probably account for most of the organ trade, it will be a way of earning money without any social restrictions such as not being able to have an education in the first place. It gives the poor more options than what they are offered now. And if the people are going to sell their organs illegally, why not do it legally and formally? This may be criticized for being unethical that the poor will end up being used and exploited by the rich (buyers) for their body parts. But this could be argued for both sides of the party (buyer and seller) as both parties benefit through legal means. Most importantly, the donors would receive money, as compensation and this would help the poor with supporting themselves and/or their families.

Health and safety issues are important in determining the verdict of legalization of organ trade. Organ trade could lead to medical and psychological damage. It is shown in a study that there are many cases that “vendors suffer from social stigmatization leading to social exclusion and depression”. Therefore it is unethical in the sense that donors and vendors are both put in danger. However, Andrew S. Klein, M.D., director of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Comprehensive Transplant Center has said that there have been "improved survival rates and the expectation that organ replacement will enhance quality of life have encouraged more doctors and their patients with organ failure to opt for transplantation”.

If illegal operations of organ trade were going to take place, it would be better if it were legalized than if it wasn’t. Firstly, if it were legalized, the procurement would be of better medical standards, as it presumably wouldn’t be in remote locations, thereby medical risk of organ donation would be reduced and safety and hygiene issues would also be reduced. Another important point is that formalized post-operational care would be given, as opposed to the lack of care to sellers in black markets. Thirdly, the legalization of organ trade could reduce a significant amount of illicit operations for organ trade. This would mean less victims of organ theft and more survivors off legitimate means of attaining an organ.

It is apparent that we face some serious ethical issues in legalizing organ trade, but it's hard to argue that they outweigh such a staggering loss of life: thousands of husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers die every year waiting for organs that would otherwise save them. Some argue that the legalization of organ trade would hurt many more people because it would take advantage of so many, especially the poor. However with the implementation of strict rules and practices, such as strict health and safety standards, set prices, an age restriction, and a strictly regulated market for organs we could safely and ethically cut the looming shortage of organs to those who are in need.

In conclusion, the simultaneous event of organ donation shortages along with the rising demand for organs has created a global black market for organs. And in this black market where people either voluntarily sell their organs or are brutally forced into having their organs extracted, thousands of lives are put in danger. This presents a solution of legalizing the global organ trade as this would give justice to the thousands of those in need of organs as well as ensuring safety to thousands of those who are in fear of organ theft.

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