Church

Singapore church body debates controversial human organ sales

By: Nathanael Ng, Christian Post
Posted:
Friday, 14 November 2008, 18:15 (MYT)
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The Singapore ecumenical Protestant Church body has released a statement on human organ sales in which it rejected the practice, and required safeguards on the human organ donation compensation to avoid malpractice.

In a statement it publicly released on Wednesday, the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) stated at the outset that it is opposed to the legalisation of the human organ market even if this legislation would increase the supply of transplantable organs - for which reason the government is contemplating the legalisation of the practice - and that the pragmatic and even humanitarian rationale for organ sale must be critiqued on the basis on more fundamental theological, philosophical and ethical principles.

“The integrity of the person as psychophysical being is such that we cannot alienate the whole or some of its parts, that is, we cannot dis-organ-ise the body without doing the same to the person,” the statement read. “In similar vein, we cannot offer some parts of our bodies for sale without changing the way in which we, and our society, understand the value and moral status of human beings.

“Not everything in this world is for sale,” the NCCS said, comparing the moral hazard that would arise as a result of legalising the marketing of human organs to the commercialisation of public offices, criminal justice, and human beings, and maintaining that the act of allowing the human body and its organs to be bought and sold will reduce persons to objects, threaten personhood, and bring about untold damage to human society.

At the same time, the ecumenical Church body stated its support of the provision of reasonable compensation to living donors, but emphasised that this should be conceived in such a way that it does not become an incentive for people to donate their organs; i.e. donors must not make any financial profit through the compensation or reimbursement schemes.

Suitable forms of compensation according to the NCCS are restricted to the provision of services in government funded hospitals including pre-transplant medical screening for all potential living donors, hospitalisation, tests, treatments and all medical procedures related to the transplant, including the surgery, post-transplant medical consultation, tests and treatment for life, advantage in the organ allocation process, if donors later need a transplant, special medical insurance.

Lump sum payments at the point of organ donation are excluded, because such payments can easily become a form of organ trading in disguise, and the numerous other ethical problems associated with financial compensation.

The Council also suggested these services could either be fully or partially subsidised by the government, in the latter case by setting up a fund which comprises a combination of government subsidies and public donations, to which organ donors may contribute if they are able to. This fund is to be managed by the government to ensure equity and transparency, and appropriate government authorities should also monitor these services to ensure compliance and prevent abuses.

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