PERSONAL REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

Last week I wrote a blog with “How Come?” questions.  One of them was, “How come a woman can choose to abort a fetus, but cannot choose to sell her kidney or liver? How come pro-choice does not cover every organ in the body?”  Wendy from New York wrote, “I love your blogs....I especially would love a real story about the right to sell body parts....a very, very interesting dialogue!!!”  Well, Wendy here is the answer.

The National OrganTransplant Act (Public Law 98-507) prohibits the sale of human organs.   The original intent of the law was “to provide for the establishment of the Task Force on Organ Transplantation and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, to authorize financial assistance for organ procurement organizations, and for other purposes.”  It was approved by Congress in 1984.  The Act is only ten pages long. Apparently Congress knew how to be concise twenty-seven years ago. 

Title III is the section on prohibition of organ sales and/or purchases:

SEC. 301.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce.

(b) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be fined not more

than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(c) For purposes of subsection (a):

(1) The term "human organ" means the human kidney, liver,

heart, lung, pancreas, bone marrow, cornea, eye, bone, and skin,

and any other human organ specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services by regulation.

(2) The term "valuable consideration" does not include the

reasonable payments associated with the removal, transportation,

implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, and storage of a human organ or the expenses of travel, housing, and lost wages incurred by the donor of a human organ in connection with the donation of the organ.

Wait, I found a loophole! The law states that sale of organs are illegal “if the transfer affects interstate commerce.”  What if I sell my organ within the state?  Then there is no interstate commerce involved.  I should be good.

So I checked, and in Illinois, under the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act:

 

Sec. 5‑50. Payment for gift.

(b)... any person who knowingly pays or offers to pay any financial consideration to a donor or to any of the persons listed in subsection

(b) of Section 5‑5 for making or consenting to an anatomical gift shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first conviction and a Class 4 felony for subsequent convictions.

A Class A misdemeanor offense is ranked as the most serious misdemeanor.  It’s just one step below a felony offense.  However, the harshest sentence a judge can impose if convicted is one year in jail and a fine of $2,500. (See 730 ILCS 5/5‑4.5‑55).

 

So under Illinois law, the recipient who purchases the organ is subject to a small penalty compared to dying without the transplant.  Nothing is said in the statute about the seller facing any punishment. 

After careful thought I have decided to put one of my kidneys up for sale for $50 million.  If I read the law correctly, there is nothing illegal about my selling an organ to be used within the state of Illinois only.  I don’t want to fool with the Feds and interstate commerce, so don't call me from any other state!

I hope that answered your question, Wendy.