PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - S Wilkinson
AU  - E Garrard
TI  - Bodily integrity and the sale of human organs.
AID  - 10.1136/jme.22.6.334
DP  - 1996 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 334--339
VI  - 22
IP  - 6
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/22/6/334.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/22/6/334.full
SO  - J Med Ethics1996 Dec 01; 22
AB  - Existing arguments against paid organ donation are examined and found to be unconvincing. It is argued that the real reason why organ sale is generally thought to be wrong is that (a) bodily integrity is highly valued and (b) the removal of healthy organs constitutes a violation of this integrity. Both sale and (free) donation involve a violation of bodily integrity. In the case of the latter, though, the disvalue of the violation is typically outweighed by the presence of other goods: chiefly, the extreme altruism involved in the giving. There is usually no such outweighing feature in the case of the former. Given this, the idea that we value bodily integrity can help to account for the perceived moral difference between sale and free donation.