Supply & Demand: Organs

" The number of people needing a transplant continues to rise faster than the number of donors. About 3,700 transplant candidates are added to the national waiting list each month. Each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. However, 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs.

There are now more than 92,000 people on the waiting list."

These are statistics that have been thrown around for years involving the donation of organs and those who receive them. It's quite a high number thats in demand and we're lucky to get 25 "good" organs a year for donation, is this really fair to those who die waiting, that someone else should have choice over limited supply? Why should we have such a limited supply in organs, there are plenty of viable sources to extract organs are there not?

It is in my opinion that legislation should be passed to allow citizens to sell their own organs, by allowing people to cash in on this you open up a world of possibility. If I get paid $20,000 to donate a kidney to which I only need one kidney, I would more than likely do it as the profit margin is high, others think this way aswell, so those 25 organs a year rise to 25,000 and alot more people can be saved. As the organs continue to come in at a steady supply and demand decreases cost should decrease. therefore everyone has a chance to get a organ they desperatly need.

So why is something so good and beneficial to both donor and receipiant outlawed by the United States? I believe it is solely on moral grounds, rather than actual health concern. People view this as immoral, therefore no Congressman will support this bill as it will cost them an election. To this I say grow some balls! It's far better to go out in a triumph of glory then to go out with nothing accomplished. The only thing Congress should stress on this market is a screening of the organs, to make sure they are viable and healthy we do not want organs that can potentially harm other people.

So why not? We sell plasma, blood, semen, and eggs, we are allowed to donate a kidney in times of need or part of a liver, so why can we not sell them? Why can we not determine what we do with our own bodies? Why are we allowed to do horrid things to ourselves such as smoking, drinking, and putting artificial preservatives down our throat, but when we can do something that can help another we are denied? The market needs to be free, the Congress should stop deciding the fate of the human body on questions of morality, we need to have a change in system but none are willing to risk their campaign on it.

When you think of organs, think of that possibility, think of the benefits, think of the lives you could save by opening this market! Is it not worth it?