Hmmm.

[dunkindohnut]

Is this really out of compassion for those with organ failures, or is there something more sinister than meets the eye? I'm reading this and I honestly get the sinister feeling that it's not just a passionate plea to help those who donate organs to loved ones here...

Comments

[ninthcircle]

Question: why should we care whether this is done out of compassion? Let's say this is done with some ulterior motive (I really can't think of what that would be, but for the sake of argument I'll allow for the possibility). Then, so what? If it saves lives, and increasing the supply of organs for transplant seems nearly certain to do so, and the donors are treated fairly, why quibble about motivations? If you think there may be some sort of harmful unintended consequences (and it seems the policymakers are trying to mitigate any ill effects related to, say, unequal access or donor health), certainly, that seems a legitimate worry, but unless that "sinister feeling" represents real concerns that outweigh the very tangible benefit of lives saved by encouraging more donations, I don't think the mere fact of less than altruistic motives should be relevant. I mean, so far as I'm aware, they're not proposing a policy like China's where organs are taken from executed felons (potentially creating worrisome incentives for those making decisions on executions).

The idea of weakening or eliminating the necessity of social bonds of trust, compassion, etc. between those who give and receive organs seems to disturb many people, but I'm not sure why this necessitates, as in the US or Europe, banning transactions in organs while other activities where one individual agrees to sacrifice personal health for the benefit of anonymous others, like mining coal at risk of dying of black lung so some person in a city can have electricity to watch sitcoms on TV are considered perfectly acceptable. Certainly the health risks merit some concern, but for something so unquestionably valuable to humankind as organ transplants I don't see why these concerns about impersonal markets should hold more sway than they do for coal mining or other similar activities.