Editing Body Worlds (section)

==Controversies==

===Consent===
There have been several reports of corpses in the Body Worlds exhibit being prepared and shown without consent.<ref name="npr"/> In January 2004, the German news magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' reported, based on internal emails and records as well as statements from von Hagens, that his company had acquired corpses from executed Chinese prisoners.<ref name="spiegel">{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-29725567.html |title=Händler des Todes |first1=Von Sven  |last1=Röbel |first2=Andreas |last2=Wassermann |date=January 19, 2004 |website=[[Der Spiegel]] |access-date=May 3, 2020}}</ref> In response to the article, von Hagens said that he has told his Chinese employees not to accept bodies that were executed, and returned seven cadavers to China that had head injuries, including at least two with bullet holes in the skull.<ref name="guardian"/> In 2004, von Hagens obtained an injunction against ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' for making the claims.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pressemeldinger.no/read.asp?RecNo=15417 |title=Institute fur Plastination, Statement on Wrongful Allegations and False Reports by Media on the Origin of Bodies in Body Worlds Exhibitions, press release |publisher=Pressemeldinger.no |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111033803/http://www.pressemeldinger.no/read.asp?RecNo=15417 |archive-date=11 January 2009 }}</ref> Paul Harris, director of North Carolina's State Board of Funeral Services, has stated, "Somebody at some level of government ought to be able to look at a death certificate, a statement from an embalmer, donation documents... That's a reasonable standard to apply."<ref>[http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2006-02-28/winter-bodyexhibits/ Body exhibits titillate, but are they legal? – JSCMS] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224010254/http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2006-02-28/winter-bodyexhibits/ |date=24 February 2009 }}</ref> Assemblywoman [[Fiona Ma]] (D-San Francisco) said, "These displays do have important educational benefits, but using bodies against a person's will is unacceptable".<ref name="californiachronicle.com"/>

In 2002, two Russian doctors from the University of Novosibirsk were charged with illegally supplying von Hagens with 56 bodies, including convicts, homeless people, and mentally ill people, without consent from their relatives.<ref name="bbcrussia">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2140333.stm |title=Russians charged over body parts |date=July 20, 2002 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=May 3, 2020}}</ref> Von Hagens said that none of the body parts were used in the Body Worlds exhibitions.<ref name="bbcrussia"/> Bodies from the [[Kyrgyz State Medical Academy]] were also found to have been obtained illegally in 2005.<ref name="tribune">{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-07-31-0507310429-story.html |title=Shock Value |date=July 31, 2005 |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=May 3, 2020}}</ref>

Consent is not regulated worldwide according to the same ethical standards, raising ethical concerns. "[P]aperwork is... separated from the bodies, which can be used for displays or sold in pieces to medical schools. No one will know for sure, because each plastinated corpse is made anonymous to protect its privacy."<ref name="npr"/> Hans Martin Sass, a philosophy professor with a speciality in ethics, was hired by the California Science Center to investigate ''Body Worlds'' before the show's US debut in 2004. He matched over 200 donation forms to death certificates, but he did not match the paperwork to specific bodies von Hagens has on display.<ref name="npr"/>

===Import laws===
International trade experts have objected to the way in which bodies for commercial display are imported, because the way their categorization codes (as "art collections") do not require [[Centers for Disease Control]] stamps or death certificates, both of which are required for medical cadavers.<ref>Television broadcast: Channel 3SAT, 1 May 2000, "Die Leichenshow" ("The Cadaver Show")</ref> In most countries plastinated human specimens are classified under Customs Classification Code 97050000.48 "items in anatomical collections". This customs code encompasses "zoological, botanical, mineralogical or anatomical collections or items in such collections."<ref>Warenverzeichnis für die Außenhandelsstatistik (List of goods for statistics on exports), 1998 Edition of the Federal Bureau of Statistics.</ref>

===Ethical concerns about cadaver displays===
In an ethical analysis, Thomas Hibbs, professor of ethics and culture at [[Baylor University]], a private [[Baptist]]-affiliated institution, compared cadaver displays to pornography, in that they reduce the subject to "the manipulation of body parts stripped of any larger human significance."<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Thomas S. Hibbs |date=Winter 2007 |url=http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/15/soa/bodyworlds.htm |title=Dead Body Porn: The Grotesqueries of the "Body World" Exhibit  |magazine=The New Atlantis |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905170629/http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/15/soa/bodyworlds.htm |archive-date=5 September 2008 }}</ref>

In a 2006 lecture entitled "Plasti-Nation: How America was Won",<ref>{{cite web |author=Plasti-Nation: How America Was Won |url=http://blog.lib.umn.edu/sphpod/sphpod/2006/07/plastination_how_america_was_w_1.html |title=Public Lectures: Plasti-Nation: How America Was Won Archives |publisher=Blog.lib.umn.edu |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628063801/http://blog.lib.umn.edu/sphpod/sphpod/2006/07/plastination_how_america_was_w_1.html |archive-date=28 June 2010 }}</ref> Lucia Tanassi, professor of medical ethics and anthropology at [[Vanderbilt University Medical Center]], explored questions for ethicists regarding this new scientific frontier. Tanassi called it provocative that ethics committees have contributed to the popularization of the exhibits without setting forth any process of a line of inquiry, pointing to an ethics report from the California Science Center. As part of that review, bioethicist Hans Martin Sass was sent to Heidelberg to match donor consents with death certificates.<ref name="npr"/>

Concerns have been expressed about the educational aspects, especially the inclusion of these displays for school field trips. St. Louis Archbishop [[Raymond Leo Burke|Raymond Burke]] strongly suggested that Catholic schools avoid scheduling field trips, stating that parents, and not children, should retain the freedom of deciding whether or not their children will view the exhibit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4201800&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 |title=St. Louis Ticket Broker &#124; St Louis Cardinals & St Louis Blues Tickets &#124; Mizzou Football Tickets from The Ticket Guys |publisher=Myfoxstl.com |access-date=27 February 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623080125/http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4201800&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 |archive-date=23 June 2008 }}</ref> Concerned with how "some kids process" these "graphic" images, Des McKay, school superintendent in [[Abbotsford, British Columbia|Abbotsford]], British Columbia (near [[Greater Vancouver]]), barred field trips to exhibits of plasticized human beings.<ref>{{cite web|last=Vancouver |first=The |url=http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=f89ece3d-f0e0-4d55-aa2e-746a9fcd9079&k=63910 |title=Abbotsford schools barred from taking ghoulish field trip |publisher=Canada.com |date=1 October 2006 |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208231942/http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=f89ece3d-f0e0-4d55-aa2e-746a9fcd9079&k=63910 |archive-date=8 February 2009 }}</ref> In an editorial to the Abbotsford News, Rev. Christoph Reiners questions what effect the exhibits will have on the values of children attending for school field trips.<ref>[http://dignityinboston.googlepages.com/bodyworldsobjectifieshumanity dignity in Boston – Body worlds objectifies humanity] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304155233/http://dignityinboston.googlepages.com/bodyworldsobjectifieshumanity |date=4 March 2009 }}</ref> Others—such as the Catholic Schools Office of Phoenix—acknowledge the educational content of Body Worlds.<ref>{{cite web |last=Phelan |first=Mike |url=http://www.catholicsun.org/2007/feb15/local/bodyworlds.html |title=Phoenix Diocesan Newspaper |publisher=The Catholic Sun |date=15 February 2007 |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205020019/http://www.catholicsun.org/2007/feb15/local/bodyworlds.html |archive-date=5 February 2010 }}</ref> Reporting on the exhibition at the O2 bubble in 2008/2009, Melanie Reid of The Times stated "(Body Worlds) should be compulsory viewing for every child of 10 or over".<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/melanie_reid/article5002781.ece Melanie Reid, The Times: Not gory, not scary, just fascinating]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Retrieved 19 May 2010.</ref>

===Religious objections===
Religious groups, including some rabbis<ref>{{cite news |author=Deborah Sussman Susser |url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?070209+body |title='Body Worlds' comes to Phoenix: Some say artfully displayed corpses not kosher |work=Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |volume=59 |issue=21 |date=9 February 2007 |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609080641/http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?070209+body |archive-date=9 June 2011 }}</ref> have objected to the display of human remains, stating that it is inconsistent with reverence towards the human body. A group of Catholic Christians voiced their opinions towards the Body Worlds exhibition in a reflection paper written by the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee|Archdiocese of Milwaukee]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=February 2014|title=Body Worlds|url=http://www.archmil.org/ArchMil/Resources/COMM/BodyWorlds-ReflectionPaper-2014.pdf|journal=Archdiocese of Milwaukee|pages=1–7|via=Archmil.org}}</ref> This was in response to the arrival of the Body Worlds Exhibition in the [[Milwaukee Public Museum]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Davis|first=Stacy|date=4 February 2014|title='Body Worlds' exhibit coming to Milwaukee has aging theme|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2014/02/body-worlds-exhibit-coming-to.html|access-date=11 May 2021|website=Milwaukee Business Journal}}</ref> The group were largely in favour of the exhibition due to its educational goals. But, the paper also discussed fears surrounding whether the exhibit's educational aims were secondary to the experience of voyeurism. There were also concerns over the display of plastinated fetuses, due to beliefs surrounding abortion.

===Sex plastinate===
In 2003, while promoting a display in the [[Hamburg Museum of Erotica]], von Hagens announced his intention to create a sex plastinate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/200806412221471 |title=Prof in Corpse Sex plan |publisher=News.sky.com |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613044212/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/200806412221471 |archive-date=13 June 2009 }}</ref> In May 2009 he unveiled a plastinate of a couple having sex, intended for a Berlin exhibition.<ref>{{cite web|author=Von Peter Kiefer Und Claudia Weingärtner |url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/regional/berlin/aktuell/2009/05/05/koerperwelten-dr-tod-gunther-von-hagens/er-zeigt-leichen-beim-sex.html |title=Dr. Tod zeigt Leichensex in Berlin |date=5 May 2009 |publisher=Bild.de |access-date=25 February 2010|language=de}}</ref>

===Lessening donor organ availability===
In 2007, the [[Bishop of Manchester]] launched a campaign<ref>Bishop of Manchester's campaign Site Corpseshow.info</ref> to coincide with the opening of ''Body Worlds'' in that city, accusing the exhibitors of being "body snatchers" and "robbing the NHS", arguing that donation of bodies for plastination would deprive the [[National Health Service]] of organs for transplant. The site included a government petition calling for "a review of the law regarding the policies and practices of touring shows involving corpses".

===Press limitations===
Von Hagens has maintained tight [[copyright]] control over pictures of his exhibits. Visitors were not allowed to take pictures, and press photographers were required to sign restrictive agreements permitting only a single publication in a defined context, followed by a return of the copyright to von Hagens. Because of a similar agreement applied to sound bites (O-Töne, in German) a German press organization suggested that the press refrain from reporting about the exhibition in Munich in 2003.<ref>Keine O-Töne über Körperwelten [http://www.djv.de/SingleNews.20+M532fe2eeb51.0.html Pressemitteilung, Deutscher Journalisten-Verband, 25 August 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718231505/http://www.djv.de/SingleNews.20+M532fe2eeb51.0.html |date=18 July 2011 }}</ref> In recent years, the restriction on photography has been relaxed for personal non-publication use only.<ref name="faq">{{cite web |title=FAQs about Body Worlds – all you need to know for your visit! |url=https://bodyworlds.com/about/faq/ |website=Body Worlds |access-date=2019-04-08}}</ref>

===Sale of plastinates===
The ''Body Worlds'' website offers plastinated pieces for sale. There are a wide range of products from plastinated fruit jewelry to entire humans. Although some of the pieces require purchasers to be a qualified user—those intending to use the pieces for "research, educational, medical or therapeutic purposes"<ref>{{cite web|title=Donating Your Body For Plastination|url=http://www.bodymobil.de/Downloads/Deutsch/Downloads/Brosch/BD_Brochure_EN_EU08_240613.pdf|publisher=Institute for Plastination|access-date=24 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525232216/http://www.bodymobil.de/Downloads/Deutsch/Downloads/Brosch/BD_Brochure_EN_EU08_240613.pdf|archive-date=25 May 2014 }}</ref>—many pieces, including animal testicles and baby chicks, require no authorization. There are also extremely realistic plastinate impressions of human hearts and slices (including one slice of copulating humans){{cn|date=April 2019}} for sale to the general public.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.plastination-products.com/Blood-vessel-configuration/Human-blood-vessel-configuration/Hearts/Human-heart-natural::1239.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131102459/http://www.plastination-products.com/Blood-vessel-configuration/Human-blood-vessel-configuration/Hearts/Human-heart-natural::1239.html |archive-date=31 January 2013 |title=Menschliches Herz; natürlich – von Hagens Onlineshop |publisher=Plastination-products.com |access-date=27 February 2013 }}</ref>