Let's Legalize It: Bone Marrow
NBC'S "Rock Center with Brian Williams" features a segment on tonight's show (10 p.m.) about the Institute for Justice's legal challenge to the outdated federal law (National Organ Transplant Act in 1984, sponsored by Al Gore and Orrin Hatch) that makes it illegal to receive compensation for bone marrow.
Watch a preview above.
Note: Bone marrow isn't even an organ, it's a "sponge-like tissue found in the center of certain bones"; so why was it even included in the "National Organ Transplant Act" in the first place? And unlike organs, bone marrow regenerates within a matter of weeks.
HT: Don Boudreaux
22 Comments:
It seems to me that both of the Statist parties have reasons to be against this. The leftists don't believe in making profits, and the rightists have religious morals. If this isn't fixed in the courts, I wouldn't expect it to have any chance through legislation. No one is going to want to have the attack ad against them that they were in favor of the selling of human organs.
"...and the rightists have religious morals"...
WTF?!?!
What are you talking about high priest?
such restrictions on bone marrow for cash were already struck down by the 9th circuit fed court in CA.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/02/local/la-me-bone-marrow-20111202
unfortunately, the argument they are using is that marrow taken from the bloodstream is not an organ and thus was misclassified, not the broader and, to my mind, better argument that your organs are your own property and you should be free to do with them as you like.
hell.. they cannot even get past things like stem cells... as "morally" questionable....
If someone is morally opposed to the use of stem cells and genetic therapies... then how likely is it that they'd be okay with buying/selling organs?
At some point, we may well be growing bone marrow and even kidney's in a lab - if the moral outrage can be contained.
I think there is better chance at nibbling away at these things a little at a time... taking the victories that do come
rather than making this one big moral/legal confrontation....that almost surely would get shot down by SCOTUS (if not already).
part of the problem is that the law and "morals" are not keeping up with technology and the whole idea of a market in organs is repugnant to what normally are allies to libertarian types - conservatives... who favor less govt and more free markets...but not in this case...
This comment has been removed by the author.
larry-
while i agree with you that opposition to stem cells is absurd, i think it falls into a different category for those folks.
stem cell harvesting looks like murder to you if you believe life begins at fertilization.
donating a kidney does not. no one dies.
it's also the owner of the kidney making a choice about him/herself, not someone making a choice for a "baby" that cannot speak for itself.
i'm not sure those views are as analogous as you are making out.
My name is Jon Murphy, and I approve everything Larry G just said.
thenk you. thenk you!
@MORG I don't think it is "liberals" that are the biggest foes but admit I have no proof.
thenk you. thenk you!
It's not often you and I agree, but by jove, you hit the nail on the head with that one.
I think this calls for a celebratory steak!
May the litigious zealots fail.
re: "the steak"
yeah boy... !
re: "the steak"
yeah boy... !
"
@MORG I don't think it is "liberals" that are the biggest foes but admit I have no proof."
i do not understand this comment.
did you think i was making that claim? i was not. it seems to me that it is the conservatives that are the biggest foes of stem cell research, specifically the religious ones.
on kidneys, i'm not sure who the biggest foe is.
recent poll:
http://current.com/community/93777214_poll-americans-show-support-for-compensation-of-organ-donors.htm
60% favor kidney "sales" with limited forms of compensation.
no mention of how this breaks down by political leaning.
check that...
as long as it is a free market steak!
as long as it is a free market steak!
Free-range, grass-fed, South Dakota bison steak. It'll cost an arm and a leg, but it is worth every penny.
@Morg...
thanks for the link...
looks like 41% support unfettered cash for organs.. " Cash for organs was seen as OK by 41 percent of respondents."
but the actual poll.. even though it does not discern political views... does touch on age and other demographics and I found this revealing:
QUESTION 5: In your opinion, is there a difference between compensating people for organ donations
and buying organs for transplantation?
Age Yes No
<35 61.6% 38.4%
35 — 64 59.8% 40.2%
65+ 56.8% 43.2%
Total 59.5% 40.5%
that's a significant finding in my view.
http://healthcare.thomsonreuters.com/npr/assets/NPR_report_OrganDonation_final.pdf
@Morg...
thanks for the link...
looks like 41% support unfettered cash for organs.. " Cash for organs was seen as OK by 41 percent of respondents."
but the actual poll.. even though it does not discern political views... does touch on age and other demographics and I found this revealing:
QUESTION 5: In your opinion, is there a difference between compensating people for organ donations
and buying organs for transplantation?
Age Yes No
<35 61.6% 38.4%
35 — 64 59.8% 40.2%
65+ 56.8% 43.2%
Total 59.5% 40.5%
that's a significant finding in my view.
http://healthcare.thomsonreuters.com/npr/assets/NPR_report_OrganDonation_final.pdf
@Morg...
thanks for the link...
looks like 41% support unfettered cash for organs.. " Cash for organs was seen as OK by 41 percent of respondents."
but the actual poll.. even though it does not discern political views... does touch on age and other demographics and I found this revealing:
QUESTION 5: In your opinion, is there a difference between compensating people for organ donations
and buying organs for transplantation?
Age Yes No
<35 61.6% 38.4%
35 — 64 59.8% 40.2%
65+ 56.8% 43.2%
Total 59.5% 40.5%
that's a significant finding in my view.
http://healthcare.thomsonreuters.com/npr/assets/NPR_report_OrganDonation_final.pdf
@Morg...
thanks for the link...
looks like 41% support unfettered cash for organs.. " Cash for organs was seen as OK by 41 percent of respondents."
but the actual poll.. even though it does not discern political views... does touch on age and other demographics and I found this revealing:
QUESTION 5: In your opinion, is there a difference between compensating people for organ donations
and buying organs for transplantation?
Age Yes No
<35 61.6% 38.4%
35 — 64 59.8% 40.2%
65+ 56.8% 43.2%
Total 59.5% 40.5%
that's a significant finding in my view.
http://healthcare.thomsonreuters.com/npr/assets/NPR_report_OrganDonation_final.pdf
"that's a significant finding in my view."
What do you think it reveals?
that opinions seems to be largely independent of age and income demographics.
"hell.. they cannot even get past things like stem cells... as "morally" questionable"...
Well no suprise here that larry g throws out another line chocked full of BS...
Adult stem cells are used all the time now...
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