A woman's choice? The gendered risks of voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

The principle of autonomy is a familiar justification for voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Advocates argue that legalising these practices would have a positive impact on patient autonomy, engendering as Magnusson puts it, ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“... a libertarian effect, by creating a space for personal choiceââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ in death. This may have particular resonance with women who historically have struggled to win choice in their lives and control over their bodies. Some of the most prominent assisted death cases have involved women: in the United States, Diane Trumbull, Janet Adkins, Marjorie Wantz and Sherry Miller; Dianne Pretty in the United Kingdom; in New Zealand, Victoria Vincent and Lesley Martin who assisted her mother, Joy, to commit suicide; in Canada, Sue Rodriguez, and in Australia, Nancy Crick, Sandy Williamson, Norma Hall and Lisette Nigot. In this paper, I critically analyse the theory that such deaths are demonstrations of personal autonomy, expressions of the catch cry ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“my body, my choiceââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢. I will argue that the experience of women exposes the precariousness of ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“choiceââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ as the foundation of any policy that sanctions assisted death.