The Human Body as Collateral: Are the Poor More Susceptible to Bio-Exploitation?
Abstract
In America it is forbidden to sell one’s organs or tissues for profit. Public policy gives no provision for financial compensation for a life-saving service like organ donation, but has no legal or moral sanctions against monetary recompense for offering one's bodily services for a non-essential treatment. In contrast, obtaining surrogate mothers, and egg donors for Assisted Reproductive Technologies [A.R.T.s] are provided for under U.S. law can be quite lucrative, marking a sharp distinction between the illegal and legal buying and selling of the body. This paper will explore the financial aspects of human collateral- selling the body for income- and consider laws that forbid financial compensation for life-saving procedures in juxtaposition to the ethical ramifications of a legal system that permits payment for non-lifesaving treatments.
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