The National Organ Transplant Act Creates Unforeseen Issues
One of the world’s biggest and most valuable things is something people tend to forget: human organs. “People of every age give and receive organ donations. In 2014, 29,532 people received organ transplants” (The Need Is Real: Data, n.d.). Even though this is great news, many turn to the black market because there is still a shortage of organs. There are around 123,000 people in the United States that are currently on the waiting list awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant, and every 12 minutes, another name is added to that list (Facts and Myths - American Transplant Foundation, 2016). 7% of those awaiting a transplant will die each year because there are not enough organs. In 1984, the United States passed The National Organ Transplant Act. This law states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce” (PUBLIC LAW 98-507-OCT. 19, 1984, 98 STAT. 2339 § SEC. 301, 1984). When the United States set the law in 1984, banning the buying and selling of human organs, it caused extremely long waiting lists, higher sales in the black market, and higher risk of death.
People die daily, whether from an accident or natural causes. Even if the organs are salvageable, for every person that dies, only 8 people can be helped from those organs. As stated before, there are 123,000 people in the United States that are currently on the waiting list. That would mean that 15, 375 people would have to die to save all those people. “Each day, an average of 79 people receives an organ transplant.” (The Need Is Real: Data, n.d.). The lack of organs continues to rise daily as more people need one or more organs to survive. While deceased donors are beneficial and currently the highest amount of donations received, live donor transplants are more...