SCC NEW RULING ON THE CHARTER AND MATURE MINORS

The SCC recently considered the situation of a 16 year old devout Jehovah's Witness who gave an advance medical directive at age 15, not to be given blood under any circumstances in A.C. v. Manitoba (Director of Child and Family Services) 2009 SCC 30. She suffered from lower gastrointestinal bleeding caused by Crohn's disease. Her physician believed that the internal bleeding created imminent, serious risk to her health and that she required blood transfusions. The Director apprehended her and sought a Court Order authorizing treatment in accordance with her physician's recommendations. The patient and her parents opposed the application. The Manitoba legislation a presumption that where a child was age 16 or older, that child's views as to treatment were determinative unless it was shown that the child did not understand a decision or appreciate its consequences. Since this patient was under age 16, the presumption did not apply. The Court ordered the blood transfusions and this order was upheld on appeal. The parents and the patient argued that she was a mature minor so that her treatment decision ought to have been respected and that the Manitoba legislation infringed her rights under sections 2(a), 7 and 15 of the Charter. The majority judgment upheld the legislation.