Organ Trafficking is No Myth
A man once said, “Don’t take your organs to heaven… Heaven knows we need them
here.” This quote may seem to be quite comical and witty but it is, in all seriousness, very true.
Thousands of people die every day and nobody seems to care. There just aren’t enough people
willing to donate their organs and this problem leads to alternative methods of acquiring organs
such as organ trafficking from the destitute, defenseless, and from the deceased1. The United
States has always been a place filled with rich culture, history, and freedom. But many people
have started to disgrace the name of that freedom. What sort of reputation will the United
States have if its own people are responsible for treating the human body as a commodity?2
It is extremely unfair to deny the impoverished, basic human rights by treating their organs as
property. When parts of the body are treated like commodities, the world’s values and ethics go
down the drain.3 Selling or stealing organs is unethical and must be stopped.4
One of the main arguments for organ trafficking is that the poor will have a way to
attain funds if they receive compensation for being an organ donor (Croughs, 2010). But
even with ten percent of all organ trade occurring through paid organ purchases, many of
the organ donors are still not getting paid for their organs (Huebner, 2010).5 Take the
example of a young man named Vladmir.6 He was approached by a lady in the country of
Moldova and given a “job” as a dry cleaner. Vladmir got a lot more than he bargained for.7
He was found a match and forced to donate a kidney at gunpoint. Not only did he not get his
compensation, but he was branded as a kidney seller which makes him worthless in Moldova
because selling your kidney is seen as a type of prostitution (Huebner, 2010). These wrongdoings
cannot be excused. Has mankind really sunken low enough to hurt others to live longer? Organ
trafficking8 needs to be stopped. And stopped it9 will be if new ways to increase the supply of
organ donors are found or if we discover alternative solutions.
To minimize organ trafficking, we can create artificial organs through the use of genetic
engineering (Artificial Kidney, 2012) or allow presumed consent which is when everyone is an
organ donor unless said otherwise (Crowe and Cohen, 2008) or revise the law by allowing dying
underage children to become donors (A Child Organ Donor, 2008) or use public networking
sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to increase the awareness for those needing
transplants (Parker, 2012) or increase the number of paired donors (Introduction to Organ
Donation: Opposing Viewpoints, 2009).10 For those of you who don’t know what paired organ
donation is, let’s say I have a family member who needs an organ transplant and I want to
donate but my organs don’t match with theirs.11 My friend, Sally, has a family member who
needs an organ transplant too but her organs don’t match either. That’s when a paired organ
1
Consonance
Rhetorical Question
3 Idiom
4 Thesis Statement
5 Opponent’s POV
6 Anecdote
7 Understatement
8 Anadiplosis
9 Anadiplosis
10 Polysyndeton
11 Anecdote
2
donation comes in. I can donate to Sally’s relative and Sally can donate to my relative. Some say
that paired organs are forms of organ trade because it is not “pure gifting” (Crowe, 2009). That
is like saying that you have to watch your loved ones die in front of you so you can donate
to a total stranger.12 Paired organ donations do not involve any sort of monetary incentive,
therefore it is not a form of organ trade.
Another credible reason we need to stop organ trafficking is that if compensation for
organ transplants is rewarded, it would take away the whole meaning of organ donors giving
because they care. When you donate an organ as a gift, you are giving it with a mixture of
freedom and obligation. The patient who receives the organ feels obligated to appreciate the
value of the organ because it was given out of the kindness of someone’s heart (Meilaender,
2008). When a public survey was taken, 82 percent of the people who participated13 agreed
that organs should be given with magnanimity (Should Organs Be, 2010). This is because the
general public agrees that in an organ black market, the basic ideas of charity, sympathy, and
gratuity14 are eradicated from thought.
When a monetary compensation for organ donation is distributed, nothing separates US
citizens from the monsters15 we are trying to protect our country from. Sure, terrorists are bad
people but if organ trafficking isn’t stopped; we will continue to stoop down to their level on the
morality scale. The United States16 is a country whose foundation is based on freedom and
equality for all but when citizens sell and steal organs from the less fortunate, America’s values
and morals are thrown out the window.17
We must end organ trafficking not just in the United States but all over the world as well.
Wealthy people are taking advantage of the impoverished through organ trade (Saletan, 2010).
This gives them an unfair ascendancy over the people who can’t afford to buy organs. The only
way to remain just and equitable is to end illegal organ trafficking in the United States and
to disallow organ trade in countries all over the world.18
We all deserve to have basic human rights, no matter where we live or the amount of
money we have. We shouldn’t be stealing and selling organs from the impoverished. We should
be looking toward the future; to a time where we all have moral and ethical boundaries that we
don’t cross. What with all the technological advances that we’ve had just in the last decade
alone, think about all the alternative solutions that can be discovered to replace the nefarious
trade of organs. We have allowed our moral boundaries to stray too far… It’s time we19 join
together and end organ trafficking once and for all.
References
12
Farce
Consonance
14 Assonance
15 Metaphor
16 Parallelism (repetition)
17 Idiom
18 Antithesis
19 Bandwagon
13
A child organ donor. (2012, June 30). Japan Times [Tokyo, Japan].
Artificial kidney. (2012, May). Popular Mechanics, 189(5), 70+.
Croughs, B. (2010). The Selling of Body Parts Can Benefit the Poor. In C. Fisanick (Ed.), At
Issue. Is Selling Body Parts Ethical?. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from
Liberty, 2005, June, 19)
Crowe, S. (2009). Paired and List Donations Are the Wrong Way to Increase the Organ
Supply. In L. Egendorf (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Organ Donation. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Increasing the Supply of Human Organs: Three
Policy Proposals, 2007, President's Council on Bioethics)
Crowe, S., & Cohen, E. (2008). Novel Ways to Increase the Organ Supply Should Be
Considered. In V. Wagner (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Biomedical Ethics. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Organ Transplant Policies and Policy Reforms,
Discussion Aid for the September 2006 President's Council on Bioethics Meeting,
2006)
Huebner, A. (2010). The Selling of Body Parts Exploits the Poor. In C. Fisanick (Ed.), At
Issue. Is Selling Body Parts Ethical?. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from
Special Report: Organ Snatchers, Toward Freedom, 2004)
Introduction to Organ Donation: Opposing Viewpoints. (2009). In L. Egendorf (Ed.),
Opposing Viewpoints. Organ Donation. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Meilaender, G. (2008). The Sale of Organs for Transplantation Is Unethical. In V. Wagner
(Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Biomedical Ethics. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
(Reprinted from New Atlantis, 2006, Summer, [13], 25-35)
Parker, E. (2012, June 17). FACEBOOK HELPS FIND A NEW KIDNEY; A childhood pal
helps a Tampa woman who needs a transplant. Tampa Bay Times [St. Petersburg,
FL], p. 1B.
Saletan, W. (2010). Individuals Should Become Organ Donors to Stop Organ Sales. In N.
Merino, Current Controversies. Medical Ethics. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
(Reprinted from Shopped Liver: The Worldwide Market in Human Organs, Slate,
2007)
Should Human Organs Be Bought and Sold? (2010). In T. L. Roleff (Ed.), Opposing
Viewpoints. Biomedical Ethics. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.