Whats wrong with making the human body – or parts of it – into a commodity?
A. It’s the sense that body and soul are connected, and selling your body is chipping away at what gives you existence. Also, we as a society say there are some things that are not candidates for commodification. Even if people are willing to be sex slaves, for instance, we say they can’t be. We rightly have constitutional protections for people so needy that they think the best option is to sell themselves. Also, commodification of body parts necessarily involves corruption of the medical profession, with doctors intentionally harming one population, normally the poor, and turning them into bags of spare parts. Q. Some countries are moving toward regulated organ markets. Is there a way to do this and still protect all involved? A. No. An organ market will necessarily exploit the desperation of both buyers and sellers. But if the world is determined to do this, we would need several things, including a “donors’ bill of rights” and a national registry of living donors, which would invol
