Activity description

Reading critically

Read the following passage

A gift is a gift

According to English law no money can be given or received in the sale of human blood. Indeed, the human body and its products should remain independent of market capitalism. The trading and buying of blood involves treating the person as a mere means to an ends and is thus an affront to the respect due to human beings. Offering financial incentives for blood donation would not only discourage voluntary donations, it would increase the risk of transmitting disease by donors motivated solely by gain and willing to falsify pertinent health information.

Adapted from Shenfield and Steele. "Why gamete donors should not be paid."; In Human Reproduction. 10.1 (1995): pp253-255.

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Now consider the following questions.

What am I being asked to think or believe?

    1. It is against the law to pay for blood.
    2. Financial incentives cause dishonesty.
    3. Donors should not be paid for giving blood
    4. Financial incentives would reduce the number of voluntary donors.

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The correct answer is (3)

Donors should not be paid for giving blood. All other answer choices provide supporting evidence for why donors should not be paid.

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What evidence is produced to convince me?

    1. It is against the law to pay for human tissue.
    2. Treating the body as a consumer product is demeaning.
    3. Payment would discourage voluntary donations.
    4. Payment would increase the transmission of disease.

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All of the above.

The author supports the assertion that donors should not be paid for giving blood by providing legal, moral, and practical reasons for why such drawbacks outweigh the benefits of paying donors.

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Is the evidence sufficient?

    1. It is against the law to pay for human tissue.
    2. Payment would discourage voluntary donations.
    3. Payment would increase the transmission of disease.
    4. None of the above have sufficient evidence.

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The correct answer is (4)

  • "It is against the law to pay for human tissue"; does not provide sufficient evidence to support the assertion because is possible for laws to be unjust, as demonstrated by the continual amendment of our laws.
  • "Payment would discourage voluntary donations"; does not provide sufficient evidence to support the assertion. Relevant case studies are needed as further proof.
  • "Payment would increase the transmission of disease"; does not provide sufficient evidence to support the assertion because it is not supported with any statistical or qualitative data.
  • None of these statements have sufficient evidence. Each would require additional legal or statistical data to support the assertion being made.
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4. Are there any hidden assumptions?

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. I don't know

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The correct answer is (1)

This passage assumes that payment would discourage voluntary donations; that treating the body as a product is demeaning; and that those motivated by greed may falsify health information.

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