Watkins,
Christine. Is Selling Body Parts Ethical? Cengage/Greenhaven 2013 116p $34.45 978-0-7377-6190-0 series:
At Issue. Secondary VG-BNS
Ten articles and essays by informed
writers with varying opinions on the subject of legal and illegal organ
donation have been assembled to enable a reader to form an educated opinion. The book
includes directions to many high-quality resources
for further research. Seemingly a
straightforward question, Is Selling Body Parts Ethical? actually
provides
a thorough evaluation of the world of organ donation, both in its idealized
form and in the seedy underbelly of black-market organ sales and harvesting. Many of the articles published in this book
discuss the inherent inequalities in the organ-donor-and-recipient system and the exploitation of poverty-stricken donors who rarely receive
after-care or any noticeable benefits in the reimbursement they receive for their
body parts, if they are reimbursed at all. It is basically a bleak picture of the industry that the articles
paint, but there are also examples of organ sales and donations done ethically and well, as in Iran. There are also suggestions for revamping the system in the United States and
elsewhere, so that recipients will receive organs after a shorter wait, and those who give
up their organs will receive better care and treatment, so the book is not
entirely depressing. It is definitely
enlightening in a way that will gratify many types of readers, and it will spark lively
debate of the sort that the abortion issue dredges up, but on a less over-done topic, which
will be a relief to teachers and debate moderators. The list of organizations to contact for more information is
well-selected and balanced, and the abstracts written by editor Watkins are spot on.
The At Issue series is intended to provide a
diverse sampling of facts and opinions on a wide variety of individual social
issues.
Organ donation-Moral and ethical aspects --Bethany Geleskie
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