Considering this analysis, introducing a market for organ sales, where kidneys can be readily bought and sold due to financial incentives, will eventually reduce excess demand (shortage). In the end, he asserted that the primary objective should be to increase kidney suppliers-- forget personal incentives.
How Humans Killed for a Kidney
Due to the inaccessibility of kidney supplies, humans often resort to irrational ways to get what they want---all things exist in Black Market. The existence of a black market is mainly attributed to the shortage of organs through legal channels. In the 1980s, a phenomenon known as "transplant tourism" refers to an organ trafficking market where humans from various parts of the world, particularly Asia, travel to regions like India and Southeast Asia to purchase organs for transplantation. Â
To some degree, the illegal nature of kidney selling is responsible for the rise of these illegal activities. At any rate, would legalization be an effective means to eradicate these illicit occurrences?Â
Legalizing kidneys would offer regulations and a framework for organ procurement, greatly expanding the kidney supply and diminishing the incentive for individuals to resort to illegal alternatives.Â
The moment kidneys were to be legalized, price will regulate fixed prices compromising to a kidney's worth. Therefore, setting standardized prices may discourage illegal organ sellers from engaging in the unpredictable and fluctuating prices of the black market.
Trial to Legalization
Legalizing the kidney market is supported based on the principle of bodily autonomy, which asserts the right of individuals to make choices about their own bodies. The perspective challenges the common notion of kidney sales as repugnant and immoral, when voluntarily removing one to supply the market is enough philanthropy. This viewpoint advocates a focus on mutual benefit, ensuring that people like Susan Stephen, will surely be rewarded with a kind compensation for their kind deeds.
Indonesia and several ASEAN nations such as Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines have collectively endorsed the "Human Organ Transplant Act," permitting medical professionals to compensate donors with medical savings accounts. Furthermore, Iran, which had legalized compensation for kidney donation since 1988, had successfully eradicated the waitlists of 11 years through financially compensating kidney donors. (Ghods and Savaj 2006).
A simulation proposed by Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize Winner, suggests hospitals as intermediaries to oversee licensed and reported kidney transactions. Donors strictly complement as suppliers in providing compatible kidneys approved by the hospital, and in return, hospitals compensate them. Recipients can then purchase kidneys from the hospital, enabling easier access to transplantations once the kidney is theirs to own.
In this context, "legalizing" pertains to specific approval of allowing kidney donors to receive financial compensation in exchange for their own kidney.
