Laws





The first successful kidney transplant took place in the early 1950’s and since then developing and developed countries have forged various policies to try and increase the safety and availability of organ transplants to their citizens (Organ transplant, 2009).

The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 (NOTA) bans the buying and selling of all organs. The main reason behind this was because Congress was aware of the fact that if this was made legal, people would sell their organs or forcefully ‘volunteer’ others, to make money (Buying and Selling Organs for Transplantation in the US: National Organ transplant Act of 1984 (NOTA) Bans Buying and Selling). Thus, the rationale behind making the selling of organs illegal is that organs are not commodities that can be sold.

Iran is the only country in the world where it is lawful for one individual to sell or purchase an organ to another (Organ transplant, 2009). China has made the selling of organs illegal since July 2006, and starting on May 1, 2007, the doctors that are involved in commercial trade of organs will face fines and suspensions (Organ transplant, 2009).