Matters of Life and Death

Rapid medical and technological developments continue to provide us with greater power over life and death. The question remains: who should wield that power, and who bears moral responsibility for the consequences? Drawing on healthcare ethics, case law, and contemporary debates surrounding assisted dying, O’Connor examines how medical decisions made by, or for, the vulnerable are shaped not only by autonomy and consent, but by dependence, unequal power, and institutional practice. Acutely attentive to the tensions that exist between compassion and restraint, personal agency and shared responsibility, this short book asks what is owed: to those whose lives are ending; to those who care for them; and to those on whose shoulders these decisions rest.