Post by homeschooldad on Mar 18, 2024 17:55:50 GMT
(Originally posted by me on another forum, and repeated here.)
Is donating blood plasma for a cash compensation permitted in Catholic teaching? Or to put it another way, is it specifically not permitted?
I seem to recall Pope John Paul II saying something about this, to the effect that it is impermissible, but I find nothing else in Catholic moral theology that addresses it one way or the other. IIRC it was something about the dignity of the human person (a theme to which JPII returned time and again), but as long as one is healthy and can donate plasma with no danger to oneself or others (that would fall under the heading of “healthy”), I can’t see how it compromises human dignity in any way. Moreover, plasma companies are in need of it, and it can help people. And it doesn’t harm the body in any way, nor does it involve the sacrifice of an organ (such as a kidney) or other body part with which the body, if necessary, could do without, but which would rightly be seen as a form of profiteering — when things get to that point, it is a question of saving someone’s life, and donation (not selling) of such a supernumerary body part is actually a profound act of charity. And unlike such organs (except for a portion of one’s liver), plasma regenerates in a matter of days, lather, rinse, repeat. (When our son was born, we thought he might have liver damage — he didn’t — and I was open, no pun intended, to giving him a part of my own liver. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.)
If there is a principle of “you cannot sell anything which your body produces”, then by the same reasoning you could not sell your hair (there goes O. Henry’s story The Gift of the Magi, I guess) or anything else. (Of course, I exclude from this anything which would have a moral coloration, such as gametes for morally illicit means of reproduction.) As a “side hustle”, as long as you don’t mind having your arm poked for an hour once or twice a week, it requires very little effort on one’s part. And some people need the money. It could make all the difference to a parent with hungry children.
So what’s the answer? And if John Paul’s teaching on the matter is authoritative, why has this never turned up in any catechism (so far as I am aware) or moral theology manual before? Or has it?
It’s also worth noting that, again, so far as I am aware, Scripture is silent on such matters.
Is donating blood plasma for a cash compensation permitted in Catholic teaching? Or to put it another way, is it specifically not permitted?
I seem to recall Pope John Paul II saying something about this, to the effect that it is impermissible, but I find nothing else in Catholic moral theology that addresses it one way or the other. IIRC it was something about the dignity of the human person (a theme to which JPII returned time and again), but as long as one is healthy and can donate plasma with no danger to oneself or others (that would fall under the heading of “healthy”), I can’t see how it compromises human dignity in any way. Moreover, plasma companies are in need of it, and it can help people. And it doesn’t harm the body in any way, nor does it involve the sacrifice of an organ (such as a kidney) or other body part with which the body, if necessary, could do without, but which would rightly be seen as a form of profiteering — when things get to that point, it is a question of saving someone’s life, and donation (not selling) of such a supernumerary body part is actually a profound act of charity. And unlike such organs (except for a portion of one’s liver), plasma regenerates in a matter of days, lather, rinse, repeat. (When our son was born, we thought he might have liver damage — he didn’t — and I was open, no pun intended, to giving him a part of my own liver. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.)
If there is a principle of “you cannot sell anything which your body produces”, then by the same reasoning you could not sell your hair (there goes O. Henry’s story The Gift of the Magi, I guess) or anything else. (Of course, I exclude from this anything which would have a moral coloration, such as gametes for morally illicit means of reproduction.) As a “side hustle”, as long as you don’t mind having your arm poked for an hour once or twice a week, it requires very little effort on one’s part. And some people need the money. It could make all the difference to a parent with hungry children.
So what’s the answer? And if John Paul’s teaching on the matter is authoritative, why has this never turned up in any catechism (so far as I am aware) or moral theology manual before? Or has it?
It’s also worth noting that, again, so far as I am aware, Scripture is silent on such matters.