Here’s an interesting topic for us to kick around. Today, during the second half of The Ed Morrissey Show, Ed will be interviewing Dr. Sally Satel of the American Enterprise Institute and they will discuss the ethics and potential of “a compensation system for live kidney donors.” Yep… you read that correctly. We’re talking about allowing people to legally sell their kidneys to those in need of a transplant. You can tune in at the link (and do a quick, free registration if you want to participate in the online chat) to check out the discussion, but I thought we could kick off our own debate here also.
Currently such a thing is pretty much illegal across the board. Why? Well, I’m guessing that it has a lot of similarities to the question of why prostitution is illegal. That is to say, you can’t even rent out some of your body parts, such as a vagina, in most of the United States. What would make you think you could sell one permanently?
There are some other similarities as well. Any surgery is dangerous, and “optional surgery” is frought with issues already. (Prostitution has its own set of dangers as well.) But should the law prevent you from making a free choice to place yourself in a situation of increased risk? It’s been pretty risky to enlist in the Marines for the last eight years, hasn’t it? For that matter, between 40 and 70 Americans on average die in skydiving “incidents” every year and you have to pay somebody to let you jump out of the plane. (I still remember the waivers we had to sign… hilarious.)
Other arguments probably also mirror the prostitution question. One point is that it would disproportionately affect the poor. I mean, you’re more likely to be desperate enough to sell a kidney if you’re in poverty, just like with women turning to prostitution, right?
But it’s your body, isn’t it? If you can get 50 grand and pay off all your debts and save your family’s future by giving up a kidney to a rich person, isn’t that your right to take that gamble? What do you think? Should it be legal or is this a pandora’s box?