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International illicit trade in human organs is on the increase, fueled by growing demand and unscrupulous traffickers. In order to truly understand the problem of organ trafficking, an analysis should take into account the various perspectives that come into play in this multifaceted issue. With contributions from international scholars and experts, The International Trafficking of Human Organs: A Multidisciplinary Perspective provides a broad-based exploration of this controversial phenomenon.
Divided into four parts, the book examines the issue of human organ trafficking from the perspectives of criminal justice, business, medicine, ethics, philosophy, and theology. The book begins by presenting case studies of the trafficking of body parts occurring in the U.S. and Mexico. It examines the increase in organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners and describes widespread instances of trafficking in Europe.
Diverse perspectives
Next, it examines the economic ramifications of possible legislation of the sale of body parts and discusses other proposals for increasing the supply of kidneys and other organs. It explores ethical issues surrounding the kidney shortage and incentives to promote donation. It also offers arguments for and against compensation for transplant organs from Kantian, Dworkinian, and other perspectives. Lastly, theologians discuss opposing Catholic and Protestant perspectives on the sale of human organs.
Learning tools
Each chapter provides discussion questions to provoke vigorous debate and references to facilitate further study. The wide-ranging analysis provided by this volume is certain to enhance further inquiry into a disturbing and increasingly prevalent issue.
List of contents
A Criminal Justice Perspective. Trafficking in Body Parts. China Profit$ from Prisoners: Organ Procurement and the Ethical Issue of Consent. Trafficking in Human Organs in Europe: A Myth or an Actual Threat? A Business and Economic Perspective. A Free Market for Human Organs. Karnataka’s Unabating Kidney Trade. To Solve a Deadly Shortage: Economic Incentives for Human Organ Donation. A Free Market for Kidneys: Options, Futures, Forward, and Spot. A Medical, Ethical, and Philosophical Perspective. Medical Tourism: Organ Trafficking and Kidney Transplantation. Body Values: The Case against Compensating for Transplant Organs. Autonomy, Constraining Options, and Organ Sales. Markets and the Needy: Organ Sales or Aid? Selling Bits and Pieces of Humans to Make Babies: The Gift of the Magi Revisited. A Theological Perspective. A Catholic Perspective on Organ Sales. Body Parts and the Marketplace: Insights from Thomistic Philosophy. The Commercialization of Human Body Parts: A Reappraisal from a Protestant Perspective. Index.
About the author
Dr. Leonard Territo and Dr. Rande W. Matteson are with the Department of Criminal Justice at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida.
Summary
This volume examines the issue of human organ trafficking from the perspectives of criminal justice, business, medicine, ethics, philosophy, and theology.
