 However, the moral rationale for the approach appeals to a more general, overarching rationale for assessing capacity in the first place (Buchanan &amp; Brock 1989: 51). The claim is that we assess capacity because we recognize the need to strike a balance between two distinct and potentially conflicting values. On the one hand, as a society we place a very high value on personal autonomy and free choice. But if that was our only societal value we would not bother to assess capacity but would simply honor any choice that a patient made (as long as she could express it). That we don’t do this demonstrates that we also clearly value patient welfare and recognize that as mental capacities become more and more compromised the risk to welfare posed by free choice increases. From the start then, setting thresholds for decision-making capacity is an exercise in trying to strike the right balance between giving people as much freedom as possible while protecting the most vulnerable among us.