No Longer Patient: Feminist Ethics and Health Care

Medical ethics and feminist ethics are both comparatively new disciplines. In this pioneering study, Susan Sherwin explores for the first time the relationship between them and suggests their implications for the structures of medical care delivery and the allocation of health care resources. "No Longer Patient" is certain to influence public policy makers and the public, as it examines such controversial subjects as abortion, new reproductive technologies, surrogate motherhood, and in vitro fertilization. Sherwin observes that "medicine has become one of our most powerful and significant institutions. Thus a feminist ethics of health care must examine health care practices as they relate to the entire power structure and the problems that may be invisible to those without a feminist perspective. Accordingly, Sherwin examines many issues central to bioethics today, maintaining that feminist ethics allows a deeper and broader analysis. Feminist ethics focuses on and analyzes these issues differently from the non-feminist literature and ultimately draws different conclusions from those indicated by traditional medical ethics. A leader in the fields of feminist theory and ethics, Sherwin demonstrates that an anti-woman bias is deeply rooted in the history of philosophy. Her careful building of positions, her unique approaches to analyzing problems, and her excellent insights make this an important work for feminists, those working in bioethics, and health care professionals. Author note: Susan Sherwin is Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at Dalhousie University.