Online human organ sales: save lives

 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. 

"  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,   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   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 '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  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.