Fascinating moral dilemma. As the blurb to this article put it, should we stop the poor from selling their organs? If a person needs to sell an organ to feed their starving family, do we as wealthy Westerners have the right to say they’re wrong if we’re willing to pay for it to keep us alive? It’s a freedom of choice thing, right?
Shopped Liver: The worldwide market in human organs
If you lose your job, you can sell your home. If you lose your home, you can sell your possessions. If you lose your possessions, you can prostitute yourself. And if you lose everything else, you can sell one more thing: your organs.
Twice in the last two weeks, transplant experts from around the world have convened in Europe to discuss the emerging global market in human flesh. Two maps presented at the meetings tell the story. One shows countries from which patients have traveled for organs in the last three years: Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea. The other shows countries from which organs have been sold: China, Pakistan, Colombia, the Philippines.
Instead of waiting, many patients have set out to recruit their own donors. They started with billboards, then moved to Web sites such as MatchingDonors.com, JoeNeedsaLiver.com, and HelpMyGrandpa.com. Around the world, people have learned that their organs are assets.
The surest way to stop him from selling his kidney is to make it worthless, by flooding the market with free organs.
