Argumentative Essay: The Facts About Organ Donation

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services report that more than 123,000 people in the United States need an organ transplant to save their life (Hall, 2015). Only 45% of American adults are registered organ donors while 21 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant (Wen, 2014). With the help of organ sales, it would be possible to help more of those who are waiting for organs to save or prolong their life. An organ sale is the selling or trade of human organs, tissues or body parts for transplantation, in return for financial compensation. When most people think of organ sales, they think of someone selling their organs for a profit to benefit themselves, versus someone who is a donor, who donates their organs or body parts to benefit those who need transplants. This creates a discrepancy between selfishness and selflessness. Why is the sale of organs selfish if selling an organ for transplantation is beneficial to both the donor and the

After fatality, one registered organ donor can save up to 50 lives with the donation of organs, tissues and body parts (Facts About Organ Donation, n.d.). It is unknown how many people are saved each year after organ transplantation due to many different factors such as different recipient matches and available donors. But, transplantation does save or prolong the lives of many individuals each year. Not only does organ transplantation have life changing differences to the recipient, the success rate for transplantation is between 80 and 90 percent (Facts About Organ Donation, n.d.). If this process is beneficial to the recipient and the donor with high success rates and many saved lives, then organ sales should be allowed if an individual chooses to do such a