Forced to Sell or Forced to Give: Assessing whether autonomy-based arguments justify prohibiting paid living organ donation while permitting unpaid living organ donation

Abstract

In the debate on the permissibility of a regulated market in human organs it is usually assumed that autonomy-based arguments that prohibit such a market solely affect the act of selling an organ, while the act of giving an organ remains untouched. I aim to assess this assumption, and ask whether autonomy-based arguments justify prohibiting paid living organ donation while permitting unpaid living organ donation. I find that the autonomy-based argument do not allow for a difference in treatment, and that any opponent to a market in human organs on grounds of autonomy should equally advocate a prohibition on unpaid donation, or give up their opposition to a regulated market.