Why is organ donation legal?

The primary law governing organ donation in the United States is the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) (1). Because matters of public health, contracts/gifting, and estate are reserved powers for the state to regulate, so too is organ donation, which involves components of each of those areas.

Why should selling kidneys be legal?

A legalized market will increase the living kidney supply, because people will be more inclined to sell a kidney than to donate one. The increased supply will also mean that the quality of kidneys will increase, since a large supply will mean the option to choose from the best kidneys available.

What are the benefits of organ trade?

For the Recipient:

• Quality of life: Transplants can greatly improve a recipient’s health and quality of life, allowing them to return to normal activities.
• Increased life span: A kidney transplant dramatically increases the life span of a patient by about 10 years and improves their quality of life.

Why Should organ donation be a choice?

By donating your organs and tissue after you die, you can save or improve as many as 75 lives. Many families say that knowing their loved one helped save or improve other lives helped them cope with their loss. It’s especially important to consider becoming an organ donor if you belong to an ethnic minority.

Should the selling of human organs be legal?

Legalizing organ trade in the U.S. could be a viable option to satisfy stakeholders through compensation, greater organ supply, and reduced loss of life. However, legalizing the sale of organs presents many ethical dilemmas through exploitation and possible violations of human rights.

Why should we not legalize the sale of human organs?

The sale of human organs should not be legalized because it will benefit the wealthy but pressure the poor to sacrifice their own health, it would be more difficult to obtain an organ if donors can sell them and people may think they can use their body for profit.

What are the pros and cons of being an organ donor?

Pros and Cons of Organ Donation

• You can save a life, possibly multiple lives. You may even save the life of someone you love.
• Your family can find comfort in knowing your organs saved others.
• Organ donors and recipients do not have to be an exact match.
• Medical research donation can save even more lives.

Why is opt out organ donation good?

Why This Works People tend to conform to the status quo. In an opt-out country, the status quo is to donate organs upon death. A simple adjustment to the phrasing of the default option in the United States has the potential to lead more people towards organ donation and, consequently, saving thousands of lives.

Should there be an organ market?

Many will protest that an organ market will lead to exploitation and unfair advantages for the rich and powerful. But these are the characteristics of the current illicit organ trade. Moreover, as with drug prohibition today and alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, pushing a market underground is the way to make it rife with violence and criminality.

What are the consequences of legalising organ trade?

Crime in Organ Trade. Legalising trade in human organs might just lead to an increased open demand for organs for transplant, which might further lead to many criminal activities. Just in the same way as adoption has been legalised thus leading to a fledgling industry for kidnapping children, the same will happen with organ trade.

What is organ trade and how does it work?

Organ trade has developed over time due to the discovery of the ability to transfer one person’s organ to another person whose organ has failed and who is compatible with the other person’s organ. The giver of the organ in this case is usually referred as the donor while the person receiving it is referred as the recipient.

Should organ donation be legalized in the US?

Because of the issues that both current legal methods of organ donation and the black-market pose, there has been discussion around how to combat the growing problem and seemingly endless shortage of organs. One suggestion is to legalize the consensual buying and selling of organs in the United States.