title: A feminist case against euthanasia. Women should be especially wary of arguments for "the freedom to die".
abstract: Feminists, among others, should not be too quick to hail assisted suicide and euthanasia as extensions of human freedom. Indeed, there are good reasons why women should be especially suspicious of such "reforms." First, it is not clear that a person has a moral right to end his or her existence. Feminists understand that suicide and murder are irretrievably linked, and that a person is not a monad. We often hear of suicide attempts in which the person's body--by vomiting up poison, for instance--overrules his or her mind. If there can be such miscommunication between a mind and a body, how are we to trust the communication between a person and the physician ready to assist his or her suicide? Ambivalent motivation and ambiguous meanings have always characterized human relations. In the past, however, an absolute taboo against suicide or euthanasia cemented a patient's right to expect the care of his or her physician, family, and community. If we were to discard that taboo, we would subtly alter these relationships and make each other more vulnerable. History suggests that women, minorities, the ill, the old, and the handicapped would be most at risk. Finally, the assisted-suicide debate has even larger social implications. Unconditional respect for the gift of life is eroding in the United States. The suicide rate is already climbing at all levels of society, especially among teenagers. Wouldn't the acceptance of suicide and euthanasia make it even more acceptable for people to check out of all kinds of uncomfortable situations--marriages or life?
authors.affiliation: Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Callahan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001242:Assertiveness; D003068:Coercion; D005065:Euthanasia; D033101:Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008017:Life Expectancy; D016743:Mental Competency; D009014:Morals; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D009272:Persons; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012297:Right to Die; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D017236:Suicide, Assisted; D014481:United States; D026712:Value of Life; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D035761:Wedge Argument; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology