FINAL REQUIREMENTS

ETHICS

ORGAN TRAFFICKING AND HUMAN NEEDS

The many developments in the past few decades in both the life sciences and in biotechnology
have given rise to the recognition of a host of ethical issues that are concerned with the physical
survival and welfare of living creatures including of course human beings. These ethical
discussions have been gathered under the name of bioethics, a rapidly emerging field of applied
ethics. Both medical ethics and animal ethics can actually be classified as subfields within the
larger sphere of bioethics, while environmental ethics can have a lot of concerns that are tied up
with bioethics given that animal ethics, in the form of the topic of animal rights, has already been
covered in Chapter II and environmental ethics treated earlier in this chapter, let us now
concentrate on medical ethics. This field focuses on moral issues in medical practice and
research. One such issue that has given rise to much debate is the phenomenon of organ
trafficking which is defined as the trade in human organs (whether from living or nonliving
people) for the purpose of transplantation. The trade can happen through the sale of organs or
through any other means including coercive force.

In 2009, the Philippine government halted a planned kidney transplant from a Filipina wife to her
Saudi Arabian husband. It was discovered that the couple had only been married for a short time
and that the man did not know how to speak in English or Filipino while the wife could not
speak Arabic- a situation that raised a lot of suspicion on the part of the authorities. The
government allegation was the planned transplant was not really an organ donation, which
Philippine law allows, but was , in actuality, a case of an organ sale, which tantamount to organ
trafficking prohibited by law. One possible reason for the woman's consent to this alleged deal is
the widespread poverty among Filipinos. Although organ trafficking is patently illegal in the
Philippines and in many other nations, it continues to be a tempting possibility, especially for
impoverished individuals, to earn some much needed cash. Most people are born with two
kidneys and an individual can live on a single kidney. Supposing that the transplant will be done
under strict medical supervision that there is shortage or available kidney donors and setting
aside the clear illegal status of organ trafficking, is it really wrong for a person in great financial
need to sell one of her kidneys to someone who requires a transplant to survive and who is
willing and able to offer a generous amount of cash.

I. This chapter identified and explained the steps in making informed decisions when confronted
with moral problems. The steps can be summarized as follows:
1. Determine your involvement in the moral situation
My involvement in the moral situation in the chapter of Organ Trafficking and human
needs is deciding the morality of the act they do. But before that I must consider first the
perspective of the doer and the recipient.
2. Gather all the necessary facts
 The trade in human organs (whether from living or nonliving people) for transplantation
is referred to as organ trafficking. The trade can take place through the sale of organs or any
other means, including coercion. In 2009, the Philippine government halted a planned kidney
transplant from a Filipina wife to her Saudi Arabian husband. and one of the possible
explanations for the woman's agreement to this alleged deal is the widespread poverty in the
Philippines. Assuming that the transplant will be performed under strict medical supervision, that
there is a scarcity of available kidney donors, and that organ trafficking is clearly illegal, is it
really wrong for a person in desperate financial need to sell one of her kidneys to someone who
needs a transplant to survive and is willing and able to offer a generous sum of money?

3. Identify the stakeholders

The stakeholders in the protection of human beings trafficked for the purpose of organ
removal or the organ trafficking are the Philippine government and law enforcement agencies.
And the stakeholders for organ donation are the Filipina and Arabian couple , the recipient is the
husband while the donor is his wife.

4. Name all the alternative choices possible and their potential effects on all stakeholders.
The recipient family should seek medical treatment to prevent needs for
transplantation.This will be helpful to recipient and the organization that protects organ
trafficking while the Filipina wife will don’t have chance to have money in donating organ.
The Filipina should find proper occupation that can at least make them survive on daily
basis. While the Saudi Arabians life would be in danger that can lead to death.

5. Identify the type of ethical issue at hand

Non-maleficence, because the donor is preventing the recipients life to be in danger by
donating her organ with the change of huge amount of money.
The donor informed consent but it is not voluntary because she participate in the organ
sale based on the gathered facts by the authorities.

6. Make your ethical conclusion or decision

My ethical conclusion in organ transplantation is whether a person has a right to life
based on the organs of others. When we choose to answer this question in the affirmative, we
admit that we are willing to cause harm to others in order to improve our health or extend our
lives. As a result, we jeopardize the long-cherished principle of nonmaleficence in medicine.
Individual choice and circumstances determine whether organs are obtained through donation,
gift, or sale. Even if a person gives his organ willingly and without regard for recompense, his
body suffers.