Organ Trafficking

1544 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethics and organ sales

I have a healthy heart that has a steady beat of 74 beats per minute with two functioning kidneys. I have twelve pints of blood circulating throughout my veins and arteries. I have a thick brown hair and a full set of orthodontic perfected teeth. I have an operating liver along with a spleen filtering out my old red blood cells and producing antibodies. I am American and have white skin, with A positive blood. In total, I'm worth about $300,000 on the organ market. The organ trade is one of the fastest growing and least enforced trafficking crimes throughout the globe today (Glazer 341). Sarah Glazer claims in "Organ Trafficking" that 5,000 to 10,000 of the 100,000 transplanted organs are obtained illegally each year (341). Although the laws passed and organizations founded have delayed the escalation of organ trafficking, the selling and distribution of compensated organs should remain illegal and suppressed beyond the efforts gave today in order to stop the exploitation of the poor and put an end to forced organ harvesting. United Nations Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UNIFT) claims there are two major groupings of organ trafficking. The first occurs where organs are taken by force, and the second arises when donors volunteer their organ for compensation (Trafficking). Most illegal organs come from the poor classes in developing countries. Glazer reports that Nicaragua, Pakistan, India, Egypt, and China are the central countries that wealthy people from around the globe go to purchase an organ for a cheap price. These affluent recipients commonly are from the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the Persian Gulf Nations (343). Various laws and bills have been written regarding the organ trade, but have yet to acc... ... middle of paper ... ... "The Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism." Kidney International 74.7 (2008): 854-859. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. Saberi, Debra Budiani, and Deborah M. Golden. "The Sale of Human Organs Unethical." Is Selling Body Parts Ethical? Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "Advancing Organ Donation Without Commercialization: Maintaining the Integrity of the National Organ Transplant Act." 2009. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 Nov. 2013. "Trafficking for Organ Trade." United Nations Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking. UNODC, 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. Trey, Torsten, Arthur L. Caplan, and Jacob Lavee. "Transplant Ethics Under Scrutiny-- Responsibilities of All Medical Professionals." Croatian Medical Journal 54.1 (2013): 71-74. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Transplant Tourism Case Study

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    First of all, we can assess issues concerning the donor. For example, is it ever ethically acceptable to weaken one person’s body to benefit another? It has to be said that the practiced procedures are not conducted in the safest of ways, which can lead to complications for both donors and recipients (Delmonico 1416). There are also questions concerning of informed consent: involved donors are not always properly informed about the procedure and are certainly not always competent to the point of fully grasping the situation (Greenberg 240). Moral dilemmas arise for the organ recipient as well. For instance, how is it morally justifiable to seek and purchase organs in foreign countries? Is it morally acceptable to put oneself in a dangerous situation in order to receive a new organ? Some serious safety issues are neglected in such transactions since the procedures sometimes take place in unregulated clinics (Shimazono 959). There is also the concept of right to health involved in this case (Loriggio). Does someone’s right to health have more value than someone else’s? Does having more money than someone else put your rights above theirs? All of these questions have critical consequences when put into the context of transplant tourism and the foreign organ trade. The answers to these questions are all taken into account when answering if it is morally justifiable to purchase

    Read More

  • Anthony Gregory Analysis

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yearly, thousands die from not receiving the organs needed to help save their lives; Anthony Gregory raises the question to why organ sales are deemed illegal in his piece “Why legalizing organ sales would help to save lives, end violence”, which was published in The Atlantic in November of 2011. Anthony Gregory has written hundreds of articles for magazines and newspapers, amongst the hundreds of articles is his piece on the selling of organs. Gregory states “Donors of blood, semen, and eggs, and volunteers for medical trials, are often compensated. Why not apply the same principle to organs? (p 451, para 2)”. The preceding quote allows and proposes readers to ponder on the thought of there being an organ

    Read More

  • Essay On Organ Trafficking

    1873 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...nts will die before a suitable organ becomes available. Numerous others will experience declining health, reduced quality of life, job loss, lower incomes, and depression while waiting, sometimes years, for the needed organs. And still other patients will never be placed on official waiting lists under the existing shortage conditions, because physical or behavioral traits make them relatively poor candidates for transplantation. Were it not for the shortage, however, many of these patients would be considered acceptable candidates for transplantation. The ban of organ trade is a failed policy costing thousands of lives each year in addition to unnecessary suffering and financial loss. Overall, there are more advantages than disadvantages to legalizing the sale of organs. The lives that would be saved by legalizing the sale of organs outweighs any of the negatives.

    Read More

  • The Kidney Shortage Problem

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    Critics of kidney sales argue that impoverished people are more likely to sell their organs than the rich. (Matas, 2004) They claim that the practice of kidney sales is injustice since vulnerable vendors are targeted and that they may suffer from lengthy health problems after the operations which may eventually lead to the loss of jobs. (Bramstedt, 2010)

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking In Health Care

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human trafficking is a health care issue in that health care is often central to restoring the life and well-being of the trafficking survivor. The Family Violence Prevention Fund (2005) surveyed trafficking victims and health care providers and found that medical needs ranked second after housing and before advocacy and legal help in trafficking victims' needs (ibid.) (Kempadoo, Sanghera & Pattanaik, 2015). Regardless of the form of their exploitation, people who are trafficked suffer severe abuse that often results in outward physical injuries. Victims may suffer malnutrition, broken bones and teeth, facial injuries, and infected open wounds in addition to infectious diseases. Many victims are of childbearing age and have no access to birth

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Organ Donation

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    A pittance for your kidney? It’s highly unlikely that anyone would answer yes to that question; however what if someone offered significantly more than a pittance? A thousand dollars, or perhaps even five thousand dollars? Although the buying and selling of organs is illegal on American soil, it’s no secret that the opportunity exists in other countries around the world. “In America, we have waiting list for people who are trying to get kidneys, there they have people who are on a wait list to sell their kidneys” (Gillespie). It’s quite incredible how a country cut off from western civilization, like Iran, has found such an innovative way to encourage organ donation. In American society one needs to “opt in” if they wish to participate in the

    Read More

  • Legalization of human organs sales in America

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... my journey researching organ transaction I have a whole new look on the matter. For one with the increasing number of people that have organ failure there is a decreasing number of donors. People will go to great lengths to insure their health by traveling to different country’s or buying form an illegal market for the organ they need because there are insufficient number of organs in the States. Also I know there can be a market for organs if we would just look past all the greed and see how many people are dieing each day from organ failure. Last but not least is the very epicenter of the whole problem, doctors and insurance companies are holding us down from a market of legal organ trade just so the can get an extra buck. Without a doubt my opinion of legalizing organ trade has grown stronger and someday I hope the Government sees it the same way I do some day.

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking

    1749 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stephanie Hepburn states that, "The US is one of the top 10 destinations for human trafficking—with tens of thousands of people trafficked into the country each year." Many people believe that since the United States is the land of opportunities, events like human trafficking do not exist; little do they know it happens everywhere. Human trafficking is a worldwide problem that plagues the United States; many people are oblivious to the issue and action needs to be taken to protect the innocent people who are involved.

    Read More

  • The Crucial Necessity of Organ Donation

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    But it exists today: an illegal market in human organs, black markets. Selling a body part seems unethical, but a closer look, reveals no bright line in the laws of most countries. It is legal for men to sell their sperm, for women to sell their limited number of reproductive eggs or use their wombs as surrogate mothers, people who selling their hairs and blood. And it is not understandable and clear why the same standards should not be applied to organs donation such as kidney, part of liver. These organs donation are not riskier than other plain medical surgeries or operations. Research and experience in medicine shows that with one kidney and part of the liver which grow back fast person can live normal healthy life. Many people who might be persuaded that organ donation is safe have another problem: the burden of organ donation fall on those who are already financially disadvantage. Suffering of the poor people would be increased by a market for a human organ is not a trivial one. American law attempts to protect poor people by prohibiting for selling organs. The problem is these attempts hurt poor, donors, human lives. The results of not enough organ donors in United States, combined with the legal sale of organs, there is a black market also. Every year a thousands of people from wealthy countries, including US, travel to poorer, less legally serious countries to buy kidneys

    Read More

  • Organ Sale

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    The National Organ Transplant act was enacted in 1984 as a free market for organs began to arise in America. Congress was concerned about the injustice that could arise from impoverished donors being pressured into selling their organs (Ci...

    Read More

  • Sex Trafficking

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). Just a decade ago, only a third of the countries studied by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had legislation against human trafficking. (Darker Side, par.1) Women, children, and even men are taken from their homes, and off of the streets and are brought into a life that is almost impossible to get out of. This life is not one of choice, it is in most times by force. UNODC estimates that the total international human trafficking is a $32-billion-per-year business, and that 79% of this activity comprises sexual exploitation. As many as 2 million children a year are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, according the the U.S. State Department.-- Cynthia G. Wagner. (Darker Side, par. 4) The words prostitute, pimp, escort, and stripper tend to be way too common in the American everyday vocabulary. People use these words in a joking manner, but sex trafficking is far from a joke. Everyday, from all different countries, people are bought and sold either by force or false promises. Some are kidnapped and others come to America with dreams of a dream life and job. The buyers involved in the trade will do anything to purchase an innocent life just to sell for their own selfish profit. Many people wouldn’t think of a human body to be something you can buy in the back room of a business or even online. But those plus the streets are where people are sold most often. There are many reasons and causes for sex trafficking. The factors behind sex traffic...

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking

    2482 Words  | 5 Pages

    "An ounce of cocaine, wholesale: $1 ,200. You can sell it only once. A woman or child is

    Read More

  • Organ Trade Essay

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Organ donations are crucial for people in emergency situations. For years organ donations have saved the lives of millions. The problem with people needing organs is that there are not enough organs to be supplied to everyone who needs it. There are many people who die because they are not able to obtain lifesaving organs. The need for organs exceeds the supply given. Thus, leading me to ask this essential question, “Should organ donation be a part of the market?” To support this question I have prepared three supportive claims, but since my answer is no my reasons will revolve around this argument. First, I will state why I do not agree with such a thing, and then I will support my claim by stating why it is so bad, and to end my paper I will state what place(s) legalizes trade.

    Read More

  • Organ Removaluation Analysis

    1744 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to The American Transplant Foundation, more than 120,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list to receive a lifesaving organ transplant. Every 10 minutes a new name is added to the transplant waiting list and on average around 20 people die per day due to a lack of organ availability. The consistently high demand for organs and shortage of donors in the United States has prompted a complex discussion on ways to close the gap. China, for example, has found a solution- they used death-row inmate’s organs for transplant operations. A report from an international team, which included human rights lawyers and journalist, estimated that 10,000 to 60,000 organs are transplanted each year in China and most organs have been

    Read More

  • Organ Donation Shortage

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    In conclusion, although there are some valid reasons to support the creation of an organ market based on the principles of beneficence and autonomy, there are also many overriding reasons against the market. Allowing the existence of organ markets would theoretically increase the number of organ transplants by living donors, but the negative results that these organ markets will have on society are too grave. Thus, the usage of justice and nonmaleficence as guiding ethical principles precisely restricts the creation of the organ market as an ethical system.

    Read More

More about Organ Trafficking

Open Document