The human organ market has been a disruptive controvery lately. When there are more and more patients waiting helplessly to receive new healthy donor organs, the government sticks to the current policy that this kind of transfer is banned. There comes a philosophical problem whether a human organ is a part of its owner body; therefore, it should be regarded collectively as an indispensable part of a human being and cannot be owned by other human being.
I want to note some obvious problems first concerning the transfer of human organ. Firstly, the health issue. The recipient cannot just accept any organ for there is a big chance of incompatibility that will only prolong the disease and possibly cause unwanted death. However, since the biological technology has been so advanced, such a case is kept to the minimum level. Singapore, as a developed country, has emplyed dozens of medical experts who should be able to recognize the right organ to the right patients. This issue is actually more bothered to the cases of the smuggled organs because usually smuggling deals with people less than legal experts whose concerns are mainly about money. Hence, such a smuggling case is unacceptable not only according to the laws, but also the issue of humanity.
Secondly, there is the economic factor that usually motivates the donors to give their important belongings to other people whom usually the donors even never know. The statistics from some Internet websites show that most of the donors are economically insufficient. They do not find other solutions but organ donor to resolve their financial problems. This issue is more complicated for it also deals with humanity. It should be the government from each related countries to prevent this case. Though a man still can live without one kidney, his body's metabolism will be bothered by the hardwork by one kidney only. Furthermore, since the nutrition is not much considered by the poor people who have to persevere every day to only get a spoon of rice, the poor donors would become very prone to illnesses. Moreover, it is a tragedy to see young poor people to donate their organs only due to economic problems. While their bodies still lack of proper nutrients, their bodies stability is aggravated with one or more organs missing. It can cause health problems that can ruin their prospect for the future.
It is also interesting to note that very few Singaporeans who are not obstinate to donate their own organs while they are alive according to a Strait Times polling. The statistic result proves that economic level is the driving force of the organ donors that are previously used only by the people who are close to the patients.
A very unique scientific perspective that regards human body as a natural machine can also be seen here. Human organs are being sold like the hardwares of a computer in the white and black markets. Transplation becomes as easy as modifying computers.
On the other hand, we can also assume that our organs never become permanent parts of our body. As we know, the cells in the human body constantly die and are replaced by the new cells. Those cells are the building blocks of our very own organs, so we can deduce that our organs are also changing from old materials to new materials gradually. It happens to all organs except the brain. Since brain is not known of being able to be donated until now, we can assume that our organs are not formed with the same materials as they will be in the next ten years. Of course, this process will cease to happen when we are old and that is one reason why we die in the old ages: damages that are not repaired in our organs.
This perspective can be used for the sake of the organ market supporters. They can claim that the organs will be totally theirs years after the transplantation process, since the whole cells that build the organs are totally reformed by the materials produced by the recipients bodies. The organs now only serve as expensive properties which are required to survive. And it is everyone's rights to acquire survival in that way as long as his/her account is not blank yet.
This issue becomes more bleak as the religious views are quite vague. It is highly regarded if one is willing to sacrifice a very worthy organ to another person so that person can continue to live and fulfil his/her prospect in life. Even so, it is reprimanded to take benefits from the organs transfers as well. It is a conventional problem of 'playing God'.
Personally, I support the government's stance to limit the human organs market because of those reasons. Smuggling and illegal corruptions are still existing and not completely settled down yet. However, the policy should be more flexible if the situation draws that organ requests become higher.
I think the real ethical issue lies on the money problem. The news lately report the presence of organizations that manage the organs sellings. It is still discernable if the money is used for the sake of the donors who are economically poor or even destitute. Nevertheless, if the money is used by the organizations to gain profit, it can be seen similarly with slavery. Slavery slashes humanity by regarding a human being as a thing. In this case, it is not the organ that is regarded as the human being. It is the unlucky donors who are persuaded to risk their own health and life due to the financial problems. Those donors are then regarded as a spare-part kit that can deliver the parts by luring them with money. This is totally savage for our world that is so-called 'the free world'.
Besides that, the traditional view that human body is highly valued as the most perfect creature ever designed by God is still strongly adopted by the society. Meanwhile, the development of technology gradually destroys that view by showing that human body can almost be understood in the way that a mechanical machine is. Well, I think that this scientific stance is still vulnerable for the scientists still cannot explain what consciousness is and what part of brain it deals with (scientists reject to discuss the definition of life; for example, in the book called Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins state living is only a term in the English vocabulary that represent some particular conditions that are attributed as being alive).
A new law should be constituted to tackle this problem. Most importantly, there must be clear distinctions between the human organs and the other commodities that are legally marketable written on the new law. This issue should be settled quickly as it can harm the humanity.