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The Ultimate Guideline that Protects Individual Rights: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

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The Ultimate Guideline that Protects Individual Rights: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

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Supreme Court of Canada Rules in Favor of Forcing a Blood Transfusion on a Jehovah's Witness Teen

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Canada's Supreme court forced transfusion of Jehovah's Witness teen girl

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Canada's Supreme court forced transfusion of Jehovah's Witness teen girl

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Supreme Court Decision Sets Guildlines On When Older Minors are Capable of Making Life-Saving, Medical Decisions.

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OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a Manitoba law that denied an ill teenager the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even though she said it violated her religious beliefs as a devout Jehovah's Witness.

By a 6-1 margin, the court concluded that the legal tenet of the "best interests of the child" must be the overriding principle in deciding whether mature children under 16 have the right to make their own medical decisions.

The ruling involves a Winnipeg girl, identified only as A.C., who was almost 15 years old when she was apprehended by child welfare authorities and forced to undergo a blood transfusion that she compared to "being raped and violated."

The procedure kicked off an intense legal dispute over the rights of "mature minors" when stacked against the competing interest of the state in protecting children.

Legal clashes over court-ordered blood transfusions and other medical treatments have played out nationwide and the Supreme Court's judgment set guidelines on when older children are capable of making their own calls.

"It is a sliding scale of scrutiny, with the adolescent's views becoming increasingly determinative depending on his or her ability to exercise mature, independent judgment," wrote Justice Rosalie Abella.

"The more serious the nature of the decision, and the more severe its potential impact on the life or health of the child, the greater the degree of scrutiny that will be required."

Unlike some provinces, Manitoba's child welfare laws do not make exceptions for "mature minors" - older children under age 16 who are deemed capable of understanding the nature and consequences of their medical decisions.

The majority judgment all but rules out the possibility of mature minors refusing life-saving treatment, regardless of their maturity. Judges, when making decisions in such cases, would be hard-pressed to side with a child's decision, said the ruling.

The decision no longer applies to A.C., who is now 18 years old. She has since moved to Ontario.

The court rejected A.C.'s argument that the forced transfusion, violated her charter rights to religious freedom, equality, and life, liberty and security of the person.

A.C. is described in a court document as a top, award-winning student who is bilingual, loves to read Jane Austen and John Grisham, and suffers from Crohn's disease, a chronic, incurable disease that inflames the intestinal tract.

Two years ago, A.C. was admitted to hospital to be treated for bleeding of her bowel.

After she refused a transfusion because it is forbidden in her religion, her doctor informed Winnipeg Child and Family Services, who immediately apprehended her from her parents, who are also Jehovah's Witnesses.

Child welfare authorities obtained a judge's approval for a transfusion after satisfying him that A.C. was in immediate danger of death or serious injury.

A.C. contends that children's services did not have the "right or obligation" to interfere, just as her parents did not have the right because she had the capacity to make her own decision.

"Having someone else's blood pumping through my veins, stressing my body, caused me to reflect on how my rights over my body had been taken away by a judge who did not care enough to talk with me,'' she wrote in a 2006 affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

"That day, my tears flowed non-stop. Nothing can properly describe how I was feeling and still feel today. I could liken it to being raped and violated but even those words do not express my feelings strong enough.''

A.C. says she had the right to pursue other medical treatment that respected her religious conscience, including iron pumped into her body intravenously to help it produce red blood cells.

A.C.'s lawyers say that Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon all permit capable persons of any age to decided their own medical treatment without state interference.

The teen brought the case to the Supreme Court after losing in the Manitoba Court of Appeal.

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Teen cannot refuse blood transfusion, top court rules

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OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a Manitoba law that denied an ill teenager the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even though she said it violated her religious beliefs as a devout Jehovah's Witness.

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The Circumstances surrounding Jehovah's Witness Mother Who Died from Blood Loss Giving Birth is Now Under Investigation. 

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The Circumstances surrounding Jehovah's Witness Mother Who Died from Blood Loss Giving Birth is Now Under Investigation. 

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Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette says he has proof a 26-year-old Jehovah's Witness woman who died after giving birth at a hospital near Quebec City understood the risks of refusing a blood transfusion, but insisted one not be performed.

Éloïse Dupuis died of a hemorrhage on Oct. 12 at Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis Hospital after giving birth by caesarean section.

Her son survived the birth.

Barrette said he has "documentation" that shows the patient was "perfectly informed" about the procedure and the risks of refusing blood transfusions, which the Jehovah's Witness faith forbids.

"She was informed, she signed documents many times. She knew, and she made it clear, that if something was to happen, because of her religion she didn't want any transfusion," Barrette told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

Coroner investigating, aunt goes to police

Quebec coroner Luc Malouin is investigating the circumstances around her death and will determine if Dupuis's refusal to have a blood transfusion met medical and legal standards.

On Wednesday, Dupuis's aunt lodged a complaint with the Lévis police and called on them to investigate her niece's death, saying she was not in a position to provide "informed consent" on the issue of a blood transfusion.

Manon Boyer is not a Jehovah's Witness and alleged in an interview with Radio-Canada that Dupuis's death amounts to an "honour killing."

She alleges Dupuis was pressured into refusing consent for a blood transfusion by the Jehovah's Witness hospital liaison committee, which she said was present in the woman's room.

The committee, made up of Jehovah's Witness elders, works with families and physicians to ensure the faith's medical care doctrines are respected.

Boyer said Dupuis's immediate family prevented anyone who wasn't a Jehovah's Witness from contacting her, and wants the law changed to address such situations, saying she thinks a change could prevent other deaths.

CBC Montreal contacted the Jehovah's Witness congregation in Lévis and is awaiting a response.

Patient must be free from 'undue influence'

Barrette said there's no way to prevent groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses hospital liaison committee from visiting a patient.

However, he said it is important that a patient be alone with their doctor when consent is given or refused.

"She can have a private conversation with her doctor and the decision is made independently," he said.

He said the evidence points to that being the case with Dupuis.

In an interview with CBC Montreal's Daybreak, Jean-Pierre Ménard, a lawyer specializing in patients' rights, explained that "free consent" is a fundamental legal standard that has to be met in cases where treatment is refused.

"The patient must be free from undue influence," he said.

with files from Elias Abboud and CBC Montreal's Daybreak

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Jehovah's Witness who died after giving birth understood risk of refusing blood, Quebec health minister says

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Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette says he has proof a 26-year-old Jehovah's Witness woman who died after giving birth at a hospital near Quebec City understood the risks of refusing a blood transfusion, but insisted one not be performed. Éloïse Dupuis died of a hemorrhage on Oct.

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Advanced Medical Directive Card/Document Carried by a Jehovah's Witness Informing Medical Personnel that NO BLOOD is to be used for Medical Treatment

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Advanced Medical Directive Card/Document Carried by a Jehovah's Witness Informing Medical Personnel that NO BLOOD is to be used for Medical Treatment

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The Jehovah's Witness Perspective On Blood Transfusions

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The Jehovah's Witness Perspective On Blood Transfusions

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Myth: Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in medicine or medical treatment.

Fact: We seek the best possible medical care for ourselves and our families. When we have health problems, we go to doctors who have skill in providing medical and surgical care without blood. We appreciate advancements that have been made in the medical field. In fact, bloodless treatments developed to help Witness patients are now being used to benefit all in the community. In many countries, any patient can now choose to avoid blood-transfusion risks, such as blood-borne diseases, immune-system reactions, and human errors.

Myth: Jehovah's Witnesses believe that faith will heal a person's ailments.

Fact: We do not practice faith healing.

Myth: Avoiding blood transfusions is very costly.

Fact: Medical treatments that avoid blood transfusions are cost-effective.*

Myth: Many Witnesses, including children, die each year as a result of refusing blood transfusions.

Fact: This statement is totally unfounded. Surgeons regularly perform such complex procedures as heart operations, orthopedic surgery, and organ transplants without the use of blood transfusions.* Patients, including children, who do not receive transfusions usually fare as well as or better than those who do accept transfusions.* In any case, no one can say for certain that a patient will die because of refusing blood or will live because of accepting it.

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Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions?

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Myth: Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in medicine or medical treatment. Fact: We seek the best possible medical care for ourselves and our families. When we have health problems, we go to doctors who have skill in providing medical and surgical care without blood. We appreciate advancements that have been made in the medical field.

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Jehovah's Witness Mother Dies For Refusing a Blood Transfusion

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JW.Org: Another Jehovah's Witness Mother Dies For Refusing Blood Transfusion/Eloise Dupuis

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A Quebec coroner is investigating Eloise Dupuis's death to determine if her refusal of blood met legal and medical standards for free and informed consent. Police in Lévis, where Dupuis died in hospital, are also investigating her death after Boyer lodged a complaint about the alleged behaviour of a Jehovah's Witness hospital liaison committee at the hospital.