My+Flesh+my+Labor

My Flesh my Labor Organ trafficking is a new reality in our neoliberal world, and this reality has raised many ethical and legal issues. Many different controversial ethical frameworks are engaged in the quest for an ethical solution. An ethical solution in favor of whom? In her article Nancy Scheper-Hughes addresses the problem but in my poor opinion doesn’t raise the ethical questions. There are too many people, too many different individuals and groups that play the game of the organ trafficking. There are players and there are pawns and every one and each of them represent a different ethical framework. Different principles and different ethical dimensions.

Human life: What is life? What can be considered alive? Human life has a value in itself. And nobody can diminish this value. But where can we ascribe this value? Can the organs as part of the human body been ascribed with this value? In a first look it seems that they have the same value, but is this always true? Can the organs be considered alive out of the human body? Do they have any value in there selves? If we agree that separate organs are of the same value of the human being then we cannot treat the organs like things, it is unethical. We cannot give them as a gift and we cannot sell them. That seems pretty fair, ethically correct, but…. It seems unethical to give or sell part of our living body, but what about abortion? We cannot sell our kidney but we can have abortion, killing a part connected to our body. In that case the ethical question is if the embryo can be consider alive, but the law in most western countries permits abortion at least during the first weeks of pregnancy. We can kill an embryo that if it grows up it is going to become a human being. So, does the embryo have a value just like human beings? Where is then the line between living and non-living, between what has a value and what hasn’t?

Human choice: If we consider the idea that is unethical to give by choice or sell our kidney, any organ of our body, we will see how extraordinary and peculiar this is. We cannot choose what to do with our own body? If we own anything in this world is our body. Think for a moment. My kidneys are mine and I can use them as I wish. This is my freedom. This is my right to choose. That seems pretty fair, ethically correct, but…. Neoliberalism has transformed the position of labor; labor is a commodity like any other. In a neoliberal world in order to survive you have to be engage in the trade. When you have nothing to sell what do you sell? Your labor. When you cannot sell your labor, what do you sell? Neolibearlism has a solution for that: your kidney! But do we really choose to sell a part of our bodies? If we are too poor we have to sell something. Neoliberalism doesn’t give us free choice it gives us no other choice. So where is the line, between what is free choice and what is not a free choice?

Human dignity: All humans have dignity, sick or healthy, poor or rich. Human dignity is very important and all humans must respect it. Do you lose your human dignity if you buy a kidney? You lose your dignity because you try to survive by using other people’s organs. You lose your dignity because you diminish another human’s value. Do you lose your human dignity when you sell a kidney? If you sell a part of your body you lose your dignity, because you sell part of your life’s value. Disrespecting human dignity is an unethical act, that’s seems clear, but…. Doctors are ethically committed to their patients, they must not do harm and they must perform good acts. If you are sick you still have a right to dignity. And the doctors have to respect that dignity. Doctors have to care about the health of their patients, but what happens when the patient’s dignity conflicts with the doctor ideal of: “not do harm”? What happens when patients wants to do euthanasia because of their condition? What happens when they want to die with dignity? Why then the dignity is not important? Why is more important to keep sick people alive, diminishing their dignity just so the doctors won’t do harm? Where is the line between dignity that counts and dignity that doesn’t counts? When is ethically acceptable to lose your dignity and when is ethically unacceptable?

Human justice: Every human being in this world should be equal, of equal value. Everybody has to have equal opportunities and equal access to goods. That is justice for all. Human beings shouldn’t have to sell a part of their bodies in order to survive. This is unethical, but… Where are the equal opportunities for the sick people? How we can speak for justice for all, when sick people are less equal than the healthy people? How we can talk about justice for all when some people from the beginning of the discussion belong to a special group with totally different equality requests? Where is the line between justice for all people and justice for some people?

Human law: can we really come up with an effective law about organ trafficking? Who has the right to say what parts of your body you can sell, you can give and which you cannot? Can we give a price to the human organs? Who has the right to do it? How can we have laws about organ trafficking when the ethical questions deriving from that issue haven’t been answere