Abstract
Among the many remarkable aspects of the June 2016 introduction of legislation to permit medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Canada, is the central and even dominant role that women have played in moving this legislation forward, and their ongoing influence as the law continues to be reviewed and revised. The index medical cases on which the higher courts have deliberated concern women patients, and the legal decisions in the various courts have been presided over by women justices. Since the legislation has become law in Canada, women have been among the most vocal and enthusiastic proponents for expanding the criteria to ensure MAiD is more accessible to more Canadians. In this paper, I discuss how the voice of women in this debate is not the ‘different voice’ of second wave feminism first articulated by Carol Gilligan and then adapted and expanded in the ethics of care and relational ethics literature. Instead it is the very familiar voice of the ethics of personal autonomy, individual rights and justice which feminist critics have long decried as inadequate to the task of articulating a comprehensive social morality. I argue for the need to reassert the different voice of relational ethics and the ethics of care into our ongoing discussion of MAiD.
Highlights
Palliation is more a philosophy of care than a medical act; it requires broad social engagement across a spectrum of disciplines to attend to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of patients, families and communities
And somewhat paradoxically, the other significant event of 1982 that informs the present discussion, was the patriation of the Constitution Act, 1982 enacting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [8] The term ‘patriation’ is itself instructive, as it has its roots in the notion of ‘patriarchy,’ contrasting starkly with the feminist ethic Gilligan espoused
I argue that any social discourse that fails to account for this different voice is in danger of robbing us of some of the most important relational and caring aspects of the political and social discourse which has defined us historically, as Canadians
Summary
Palliation is more a philosophy of care than a medical act; it requires broad social engagement across a spectrum of disciplines to attend to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of patients, families and communities. Medical assistance in dying (MAiD), on the other hand, is narrow and focused and trades on more manageable notions of individual rights, personal autonomy, and choice It is focused, quantifiable and eminently manageable and more amenable to technological control. And somewhat paradoxically, the other significant event of 1982 that informs the present discussion, was the patriation of the Constitution Act, 1982 enacting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [8] The term ‘patriation’ is itself instructive, as it has its roots in the notion of ‘patriarchy,’ contrasting starkly with the feminist ethic Gilligan espoused. The Truchon decision challenges the criterion that requires that a person’s death must be reasonably foreseeable In addition to these powerful and capable women justices, numerous other women have figured prominently and continue to exert great influence in shaping social opinion, legal policy and clinical practice pertaining to MAiD. I argue that any social discourse that fails to account for this different voice is in danger of robbing us of some of the most important relational and caring aspects of the political and social discourse which has defined us historically, as Canadians
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