(excerpted from)
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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.lp.org/
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For release: September 7, 1999
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For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com
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Libertarians say: Online sale
of human organs could save lives
WASHINGTON, DC -- EBay should reconsider its decision to block
the online auction of a human kidney because the free market and the
Internet could help solve the nation's chronic organ shortage, the
Libertarian Party said today.
"EBay should have a heart when it comes to selling a kidney,"
said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "It may sound like
science fiction, but the online sale of human organs could be the
difference between life and death for thousands of people. It should be
allowed, not prohibited."
On September 2, EBay shut down an online auction for one "fully
functional human kidney," which had been offered for sale by a person
in Florida. The seller was not immediately identified.
The bidding had hit $5.7 million by the time the company pulled
the plug -- although some observers said both the offer and big-dollar
bids could be pranks.
But whether this particular auction was a joke or not, said
Dasbach, it does suggest one way to help solve a growing national
crisis: Thanks to advances in surgical techniques, the demand for human
organs has vastly outstripped the supply.
According to medical experts, about 55,500 people are on
various lists for organ transplants, and as many as 4,000 will die
while waiting.
The problem: Organ allocation is handled by the
government-contracted United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which
has caused what one law professor calls "a government-created organ
donor shortage."
If the commercial sale of organs was allowed -- and the
Internet was used to bring together buyers and sellers who could reach
mutually agreeable prices -- then that shortage could be eliminated and
the death rate could be lowered, said Dasbach.
"There is no better mechanism than the free market to balance
supply and demand," he said. "That's as true for kidneys, corneas, or
bone marrow as it is for anything else people need. And the pay-off for
society would be more lives saved, at the lowest possible price."
Of course, if EBay is determined to stick to its "no body
parts" sales policy, Libertarians won't object, he said.
"As a private business, we don't dispute EBay's right to
prohibit the sale of a kidney," he said. "We simply want to encourage
executives at the company to consider a more tolerant policy that might
save lives."
Unfortunately, even if EBay did change its rules, anyone trying
to sell a kidney -- online or otherwise -- would still face arrest,
Dasbach noted. According to federal law, selling your organs is a
felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
And that's an outrage, he said.
"The ultimate question is: Who owns your body? Does the federal
government own it? If so, then it has the right to determine what you
do with it," he said. "On the other hand, if you own your body, what
right does the government have to put you in jail for voluntarily
selling a small part of it?"
Dasbach said he could understand why some people might object
to the sale of human organs on religious or moral grounds.
"The whole concept does have futuristic overtones, and it does
make a life-saving procedure sound somewhat mercenary," he admitted.
"But if the alternative is letting people die, or spending years on
waiting lists, then the free market is actually the more humane
approach."
And don't forget, he said: "The free market already provides
many things required to sustain life -- from the food we eat, to the
water we drink, to the medicines we take. Even blood can be offered for
sale. Why should human organs be any different, as long as it is a
voluntary transaction between the buyer and seller?"
The debate over this topic will heat up in the future,
predicted Dasbach, as medical advances make transplants even more
common and as the population ages -- sharply increasing the demand for
replacement organs.
"At that point, there may be a groundswell of demand to abolish
the government's anti-choice laws on the sale of human organs, and move
in a more Libertarian direction," he said. "And here's a simple slogan
that could be the guiding principle to rewrite those laws: Your body,
your choice."
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
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