the "Regulated Market of Organ Sales" March 15, 2006 Pope John Paul II has stated that acts of selfless love "are most solemn celebrations of the Gospel of life" and that a particularly praiseworthy example of such love "is the donation of organs, performed in an ethically acceptable manner, with a view to offering a chance of health and even of life itself to the sick who sometimes have no other hope." Evangelium Vitae [1995] ¶86 The National Catholic Bioethics Center strongly opposes any regulated market of organ sales. Such a scheme would harm the charitable nature of organ donation and substitute in its place a market for the buying and selling of human body parts. The human body is not a commodity, but a gift over which God has given us a limited stewardship. Furthermore, to turn the body and its organs into commodities places at great risk those who are poor and vulnerable by making them susceptible to the allure of monetary gain from a surgical procedure which in no way benefits them medically. The work of The National Catholic Bioethics Center is done for the good of the Church and for the protection of the most weak and vulnerable among us. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Center today. We rely on the generosity of friends and benefactors to continue our work of defending the dignity of the human person in health care and the life sciences. Click to donate now. |
