Let Them Sell Kidneys! : The Case Against the Case Against a Market in Organs

Abstract: It seems uncontroversial to state that meeting the vital medical needs of the vulnerable is agoal of great moral importance. Those in need of an organ transplant are among the mostvulnerable and yet society has to a large extent failed them. Many would-be organ recipientshave to wait for long periods of time before they get the organ that they need and some haveto wait until it is too late. Something has to change. One of the most widely discussedsolutions is to create a regulated market in organs. The financial incentives are believed toencourage more people to give someone else their organs, thus significantly increasingsupply. Regardless of the potential effectiveness of such a solution, there are many who takea principled stand against organ markets. These objections generally stem from a concern forthe insidious potential for coercion and the hazard of exploitation. I will argue that thearguments against organ markets fail due to the flawed conceptualization of coercion, fairnessand the expressive meaning of markets that these arguments are premised on. Furthermore,even though there is some truth to the exploitation objection, it does not have sufficient moralrelevance to justify a prohibition on a regulated market in organs.