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Bradley Jay: 'It Should Be Legal For You To Sell Your Kidney?'

It is currently illegal in The United States to sell a kidney, and I have to ask why. After all, selling a kidney could both make you a hero and earn you a lot of money. Thousands of people in the U.S. alone are on dialysis, waiting for a kidney. If you could save one of these afflicted people and make a life-changing chunk of change for yourself and your family, who is the government to tell you that you can't?

Many rail against Uncle Sam for his legal paternalism and this is a prime example of it. Does the government really know what is better for you than you do? Should the "man" really be able to tell you what to do with your own body? Shouldn't you be able to sell a spare body-part if you want? It is, after all, yours. Do you not own your own body? Should you not have the right to do with it as you please? You can tattoo it, shave it, pierce it, and modify in many ways that benefit no one. Would it not make sense to also allow you save a life and support your family by selling a bit of it?

Would I sell a kidney? No way. But it should be my call.

The bottom line is that I believe the law that forbids you to sell a kidney costs lives. Do you agree?

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