The European Union looks like it might take the foolish step of banning financial incentives for a variety of substances of human origin, including blood, blood plasma, sperm, and breast milk. The legislation on the safety and quality of Substances of Human Origin includes an approved amendment that says donors can only be compensated for "quantifiable losses" and that such donations are to be "financially neutral." This legislation is supposed to harmonize the rules across the 27 member countries, promote safety, with the ban on financial incentives intended to avoid commodification and the exploitation of the poor.
What it threatens to do instead is make access to these substances much more difficult—and so threaten the saving and creating of lives. And a further unintended consequence of this is that it will also likely help better line the pockets of American-based sperm banks and plasma collectors.
