Magnifisyncopathological

The AP via Yahoo! News: Australian doctor proposes paying $47,000 for a kidney

An Australian doctor proposed Monday that the government pay up to $47,000 for kidney donations to overcome a chronic shortage.

I'll mention straight from the outset that this is not essentially right. The state should not be paying people to donate their organs because the state does not legitimately own the money it would be using to finance those payments. If there is a decent reason for the state's existence (and I'm not aware of one), it doesn't involve taxing people in order to pay others to give up their organs, a system of coercive redistribution no different from any other welfare scheme.

Kidney specialist Gavin Carney said allowing the sale of organs would save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in care for patients on transplant waiting lists.

This is indisputably true. People often forget the power of economic incentives.

He also said it would stop people from buying organs on the black market in developing countries, where they pursue risky, unregulated surgeries.

I'm about as big a fan of so-called black markets as anyone else on the planet, primarily because they almost always involve exchanges that have been unjustly outlawed. And even though those people seeking "unregulated" treatment are facing significant risks when doing so, it isn't as if that course of action was their first choice. I know if I faced a situation where, because the state has banned the open sale of donate-able organs, I was forced to wait hundreds (if not thousands) of days for my name to slowly rise up a list, I'd certainly consider going "black."

Carney's proposal was immediately criticized by transplant groups, who fear it would exploit poor people.

Here's a benchmark on the decline of rational thought for you: it is considered a moral outrage to be allowed to sell parts of your own body in order to enjoy the cash it generates and to help a sick person.

The idea was dismissed by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, who said Australians would not be allowed to market their organs. "But we do know that we need urgent action in this area of organ donation," Roxon told Australia Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Rather than paying people for organs, Roxon said her ministry would act on some of the recommendations of a federal task force that recently completed a review of the organ donation system. She did not specify its recommendations.

[...]

Transplant Australia, a national charity and organ support group, said the average wait for a kidney transplant is four years.

The group's chief executive Chris Thomas said his organization rejects paying for organs and instead is working with the government to change the donation system.

[...]

"In my opinion it is inappropriate for the Australian medical system to consider, and is counter to the Australian culture which promises an equitable approach in all things," [Kidney Health Australia] medical director Tim Mathew told The Associated Press. "The commercial trade in organs is not something we can support."

So what does the establishment say? Tweak the system, study the system, advertise the system. Just don't ditch the system. Keep those gears grinding! Equality for all! Everyone shall be held down to the same standard! And, boy, is profiting from medical problems just yucky.

Selling or buying organs is illegal in Australia, as in most countries, and carries a penalty of six months in jail and a fine of up to $4,130.

Meanwhile, people are fucking dying and the fundamental right to self-ownership continues to be trampled.

Carney said the suggestion that paid donation would exploit poor people was "a red herring," telling ABC radio that government regulation of organ commercialization would ensure high ethical standards and medical safeguards.

The rigors of an open and free market in organ sales would ensure the quality and value people seek. Would you see a doctor with a bad reputation? How about one who's been sued a bunch of times for malpractice? Thinking about the seedy-looking dude in the back of the phonebook? Those are choices only the individual is qualified to make.

But, as with anything else in life that involves human action, it would also be at a cost. Something as complex and challenging as an organ transplant probably will be quite expensive, especially as long as the state continues to regulate the shit out of the medical industry.

"I don't support (illegal trade)," Carney said. "But I also do not agree with the fact that we should let people just rot on dialysis until they have been on dialysis so long they are untransplantable."

A trade would only be properly illegal if it was done with property that wasn't legitimately owned by the parties in the transaction. Stolen organs and money from theft (such as taxation) would qualify for that label.

Last week, health officials in the Philippines announced that foreigners will be banned from receiving kidneys for transplant there in an attempt to crack down on a thriving black market in organs sold by poor people.

I bet those poor people looking to sell parts of their bodies sure feel better. Now, instead of planning on how to provide for their families with a sudden infusion of money, they can go back to begging on the streets! Hot damn, what a "choice"! Who'd pick exploitation when the alternative is grinding poverty?