Thawing Out Personhood, Unconscionability and Succession in Cryonics

The adoption of cryonics poses fruitful questions about personhood, consumer protection, trusts, taxation, crime, human rights and other law. Cryonics involves the long term storage of human cadavers at subzero temperatures with an expectation that in the indefinite future the legally dead will be ‘reanimated’. The article discusses the culture and law of cryonics in relation to Australia. It draws on Martha Fineman’s vulnerability theory to critique claims by proponents of cryonics, asking whether unsubstantiated claims regarding reanimation are unconscionable and necessitate a specific statutory prohibition. The article further considers the implications for health, welfare and other law if cryonics was practical.