"Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said Mr. Barbour’s decision to free the women on the basis of the kidney donation had crossed a moral line.
“Either out of ignorance or out of indifference, he shifted what had been a gift into compensation,” Dr. Caplan said. “He turned it into a business contract.”
The sisters will be on parole for the rest of their lives, their lawyers said.
Many questions remain unanswered, including who will pay for the kidney transplant. The sisters’ supporters say that the family cannot afford the procedure and that it is unclear whether they will qualify for Medicaid.
Further, the sisters have not been tested to see if their blood type and immune systems are sufficiently close for a transplant operation. There are also concerns that after having spent so many years in prison that neither sister is healthy enough to undergo the procedure."