New Jersey Section 2C:22-2 – Disposition of body parts, criminal penalties imposed for certain offenses.
New Jersey has strict laws regarding the handling of human remains and body parts. Section 2C:22-2 of the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice deals specifically with the disposition of body parts and imposes criminal penalties for certain offenses.
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What Does Section 2C:22-2 Cover?
Section 2C:22-2 covers the buying, selling, and transfer of body parts for transplantation, therapy, research, or education. It prohibits the knowing purchase or sale of any body part for valuable consideration, except for reimbursement of reasonable costs associated with the removal, processing, disposal, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation, or implantation of a part.
Limited Exceptions
There are a few limited exceptions to the prohibition on buying and selling body parts under Section 2C:22-2. These include:
- Payments associated with removing, processing, preserving, quality control, storage, transportation, implantation or disposal of body parts. As long as these payments represent reasonable reimbursement of costs, they are allowed.
- Payments for body parts that are regenerative body fluids or regenerative body materials like blood, sperm, and eggs. These substances can be bought and sold within certain parameters.
- Kidney exchanges under the New Jersey Organ Transplant Network. Special rules allow kidney swaps between donors and recipients with biological incompatibilities.
Comparison to Federal Law
New Jersey law on body part sales is similar to federal law under the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA). Federal law also prohibits the purchase and sale of human organs and body parts for “valuable consideration.” This ban covers the sale of kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, pancreases, bone marrow, corneas, eyes, bones, and skin.
However, the federal law does not impose specific criminal penalties. Violators face fines and up to 5 years in prison. So New Jersey law is more stringent in handing out lengthier prison terms for first degree crimes.
Policy Rationale
The core rationale behind restricting body part sales is to maintain the integrity of the organ donation system. There are concerns that allowing organs and tissues to be bought and sold like commodities could lead to exploitation of the poor, coercion of vulnerable populations, and human trafficking.
New Jersey’s tough policy seeks to preserve altruistic donation and an equitable transplant system. Keeping financial incentives out of the equation prevents disproportionate incentives for people to donate based on economic need.
Critics counter that allowing compensation could increase the organ supply and save lives if properly regulated. But so far, New Jersey law remains firmly opposed to allowing body part sales for profit.
Ethical Considerations
There are reasonable ethical arguments on both sides of this issue. A utilitarian perspective suggests allowing compensation for organs could increase supply, reduce wait times, and save more lives.
However, opponents cite concerns about exploitation of the poor and the inability of vulnerable populations to provide true informed consent under financial distress. There are also slippery slope risks that a legal organ market could expand in unforeseen unethical directions.
New Jersey law takes a firm stance against commodification of the human body and prioritizes maintaining an equitable transplant system over potentially improving supply. Reasonable people can disagree on where the right balance lies between pragmatism and high ethical standards. But the current legal regime privileges altruistic donation above market-based solutions.
Practical Impact
Section 2C:22-2 has a direct impact on organ donation and transplantation in New Jersey. The prohibition on sales for profit means that altruistic donation is the only lawful avenue for organ supply.
This also means that many New Jersey residents in need of organs and tissues end up on long waitlists managed by NJ Sharing Network. Wait times average over 5 years for a kidney in New Jersey. There were over 4,000 New Jersey residents waiting for a transplant as of late 2022.
So the direct effect of Section 2C:22-2 is to channel all organ acquisition into the NJ Sharing Network system rather than allowing any transactions on a legal open market. This maintains ethics, but also prolongs shortages and wait times that cost lives.
Changing the law would be highly controversial but could potentially improve access and availability of organs for patients in need. This complex trade-off continues to be debated among stakeholders in New Jersey and nationally.
Conclusion
Section 2C:22-2 reflects New Jersey’s policy choice to impose strict penalties on the sale of human body parts and organs. This upholds ethical values of human dignity and equity but also leads to organ shortages.
Reasonable people can disagree on the right policy balance. But for now, Section 2C:22-2 represents New Jersey’s strong stance against commodification of the human body in favor of altruistic donation and ethics over market-based pragmatism. The implications of this policy choice are life and death for many citizens awaiting organ transplants.