19 Miles and August's sample is small, but their data are probably sufficient to establish a direction. Explanations that describe women's more tentative expressions of choice 20 or greater dependency can be offered to explain the difference, but reliance on stereotyping to resolve particular cases is problematic. Miles and August's suggestion that women are often denied status as autonomous moral agents in death decisions is disturbing. The gender statistics of Dr. Kevorkian's procedures are subject to a variety of interpretations, and there may be several explanations for why more women than men have sought Dr. Kevorkian's assistance. For example, it is more difficult for women to have their views heard in medical settings, and they find it difficult to receive effective treatment from a mainstream medical profession still dominated by men.
Women are also generally more willing to seek help than men are.
Indeed, women attempt suicide more frequently than men, although they are considerably less successful at completing it. 24 Pervasive sexism in society and in the health care system derives from devaluing women's lives, from over- or undertreating women, from stereotyping, and from differences in access to health care arising from differences in wealth. Such factors further tilt the statistics of assisted suicide. Regrettably, the consequences of legalizing assisted suicide might, therefore, unequally and inappropriately end the lives of women and other subordinated groups. Such arguments provide a strong and, for some, compelling basis to resist legalization.