Ethics of the Sale of Body Parts - Essay ExampleThe Anatomical Gift Act, drafted in 1968 was the initial effort made in an attempt to give a tissue and organ donation policy (Talbot, 2012). It created a uniform legal procedure for people who wished to donate organs to medical institutions. In this act that is operational in up to fifty states, it states that a person of sound mind and 18 years of age can donate part or all of his body. The donor may put his wish to donate a body part in a will that is operational only upon his death. This act forbade the sale of body parts, but the recipient of the donated body part is to pay for the transportation of the donated organ or body part. Organs and tissues can only be received by surgeons, hospitals, physicians and educational institutions in medical or dental research. There is also a National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 that provides funds for the establishment of organ procurement organization. The act also banned the sale of organs between states and established a task force to enforce policy issues regarding organ transplantation.
