Debate Primer: Organ Sale

May 23

Written By Cat Jacob

This week, Political Union will be debating whether the United States should legalize the sale of organs.

First, a rundown on some donation stats and a case study in the form of the Iranian organ donation model. [6 minutes]

A few definitions for U.S. policy:

Presumed Consent [2 minutes]
A explanation on Organ Donation and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), the chief piece of legislation governing organ donation in the United States. [4 minutes]
Existing regulations governing sale of organs, and the results of Congressional hearings on the issue — this also includes an argument against organ brokering. [5 minutes]
- Organ brokering would be the profiting of third parties for organizing the resources of donation, think of it like the doordash service fee on a delivery order.
An explanation on organ trafficking. [4 minutes ]

A transcript of a discussion by various experts - Law Professors, Surgery Directors, Psychiatrists, and a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School — arguing both sides of the issue. [10 minites]
Some general statistics on the current U.S. donor system. [2 minutes]
- A few other quick facts — including “120,000 people awaiting transplantation” and “Every day, in the United States, 18 people a day die waiting for an organ to become available.” [4 minutes]

An article discussing the relationship between organ donation and black market organ trafficking. [7 minutes]
- And another arguing the positive impact legalization could have on organ trafficking. [5 minutes]

The case against paid organ donation — which some equate with legalization. [8 minutes ]
The case for legalizing organs from Research Editor and Atlantic Contributor Anthony Gregory. [4 minutes]
- An argument for organ compensation from Forbes. [4 minutes]

An expert’s view on exploring other options than UAGA, including full legalization. [4 minutes]

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