Issue 223 Pay for organs!!! December 9, 2013

Did you know that in the United States people can sell for money their bone marrow, blood, sperm and eggs? Well, now you do. But what about our other organs like a kidney? Should we be able to sell one of the two of them? Let's discuss.

Selling organs: Iran is the only country in the world that allows people to sell a kidney legally. And guess what, they do not have a waiting list for recipients like in the rest in the world. In fact, there list is made up of people who want to donate there organs. Can you imagine a diabetes patient not having to wait months on dialysis just to get a new kidney? Think of it, Iran has probably one of the most tyrannical governments in the world and yet they found a way to save all these people who in other countries would probably have given up by now. This is the result of selling organs; people have a chance to live.

Benefits: Out side of the obvious people lining up to donate, there are other benefits as well. Iran's program has an adoption style system for the donor and recipient to get to know each other. What normally may have been a faceless transaction has become a way to create friends and extend families irrespective of blood relations. According to the "expert" on the show "Stossel" many of these people form family like bonds after the procedure. They invite people over for dinner, family parties and more as they now share a kind of bond. However, the donor has the option to remain anonymous.

Another benefit is that the people donating get money for their wants and needs. Some have used that money to pay for weddings, expand their businesses, add new additions on their houses, or even to just buy a car. So these people who are donating are in no way victims as they reap many benefits. Is there anything not to love about this?

Not loving it: Those who are opposed to such ideas see nothing but victims. The reason is due to the black market selling of such organs. They feel that the donors become victims (not true thanks to the Iran example), that it is faceless (again Iran defeats this senseless argument) and that it would create a larger black market. Well I have my doubts on the larger black market idea. A black market for things like drugs, prostitution and organ selling exist because of those practices being illegal. A system of organ donation works the same way as the current one with the only difference being that the donor gets paid.  This for the most part eliminates the possibility of a bad organ being given to a patient that needs it (especially one that is stolen from someone as you actually get to meet the donor before the operation). So these arguments are mostly baseless as the black market for such organs will shrink and become less profitable as the paid donor program progresses (if it were to be allowed in a country like the United States that is).

Conclusion: I myself was once against selling organs. I did not like the idea as it felt kind of like prostitution, except you were selling more then just sex. But, what I have found is that this is a voluntary transaction that takes place and allows people to profit off their generosity. So at least let the world experiment with the idea. Let's not have Iran be the only country that saves people from dead or dying kidneys.