Your kidney is worth $262,000 (How). Would you sell it? For the average human, your body has a net worth of $843,751 on the black market (How). For many people in desperate situations, they turn to selling their organs as a way to make money. While organ trafficking is portrayed as abduction, bloody bathrooms and a chainsaw, most organ trafficking actually happens when desperate people have their organs removed for payment in a facilitated hospital much like the ones ordinary people visit (Scheper-Hughes). That is the daunting part of the organ trade, it is all ordinary people who have to choose between the blurry lines of ethics and death.
People all around us live with life threatening diseases such as diabetes that will only be fully remedied with a organ transplant. However, most people who are in need of an organ only have a staggering 17% chance of receiving it hence the large demand for illicit organ transplants (Swingler). It is estimated that because of the lack of altruistic organ donations, roughly 10% of all transplants are actually connected to the organ trade (Swingler). With a black market that has desperate people on both ends, it is easy to see how exploitable both parties are. The trade works when a person in need of a donor seeks out a middleman who is a part of an organ trafficking ring. This person then goes to find a desperate seller in most likely a third world country. The donor is then flown into whatever country the recipient lives in and the transplant is done through a dual surgery at a facilitated hospital (Scheper-Hughes).
While it sounds gruesomely terrifying to have such a market occurring all around the globe, there is plans for the future of organ trafficking and how it will be controlled (NewsPick). This raises the question whether it is ethical to actually sell one’s organs. Some people “fears that the line between selling organs and actually selling people is a rather fine one” (Rohter). There are two sides to this spectrum, the people who believe that this illicit trade takes advantage of too many people and as a result should be completely shut down and those who believe there is a safe market opportunity in the organ trade. The theory of making the organ trade safe is having it be medically regulated in a way that desperate people could earn money while saving someone’s life (Swingler). The main issue with the black market as it is, is the after effects that occur to both parties. Many times the recipient will receive an organ with HIV or an organ that is simply not a match for their body and hence their body rejects it (Scheper-Hughes). The people donating an organ certainly cannot afford health insurance and can therefore not afford after care for the surgery; some even die from this. The future of the organ trade depends on the ethical idea about where your body is property that you can legally sell and if there will ever be a way to prevent organ rings from stepping in and exploiting desperate people.
While organ trafficking seems to occur in shady back alleys hundreds of miles away, often times this trade occurs all around us. There will always be people desperate for organs and there will always be people desperate for money. The need for organs drives this trade and until there is either a regulated way to sell organs legally or a complete stop to the organ trade, the bloody bathrooms and chainsaws might not be too far from myth (Organ).
Bibliography:
"How Much Are Your Body Parts Worth on the Black Market?" 1025 KSFM. N.p., n.d. Web. 08
Mar. 2017.
NewsPick." 8 Countries Where Human Organs Are Harvested. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
"Organ traffickers lock up people to harvest their kidneys. Here are the politics behind the organ
trade." Washingtonpost.com, 7 Dec. 2016. Student Resources in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A473111067/SUIC?u=los42754&xid=7839d0c8. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. "Human Traffic: Exposing the Brutal Organ Trade." New
Internationalist. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
Swingler, Shaun. "The Dark World of Internet Kidney Trafficking." Health24. N.p., 25 Feb.
2015. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
I loved the way the issue was framed so that the reader got a good look at the scope of the issue. I had no idea that people's bodies were so valuable. Is this an issue that is localized in Africa, or is it more global than that?
ReplyDeleteI really like how you portrayed this issue and started off with a catchy beginning. I did not know that people actually sell their organs to make money and that they could make so much out of it. Do you think that they will be able to maintain organ trafficking?
ReplyDeleteI really liked your title and your opening statement, because it really drew me in. My main take away is that organ trafficking can actually take place voluntarily in hospitals and is usually not forced. How prevalent is this issue in Africa?
ReplyDeleteI love your hook, and introduction. The whole paper was very well written, I loved even when I saw the first draft. :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love love love your title! It really grabbed my attention and made me want to read more even though it was just the title. One thing that I really found interesting is the fact that there can be a price put on human organs. Often times our bodies are seen as priceless but that isn't so much the case here. I'm wondering what is your personal point of view on this issue? Are there any circumstances in which you would ever consider selling an organ?
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