“Mature” Children Can Refuse Medical Treatment: Supreme Court of Canada
Children Can Make Medical Decisions
A majority of the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that children under the age of 16 who are capable of “mature, independent” judgment can make life or death decisions about their own medical treatment.
In A.C. v. Manitoba (Director of Child and Family Services) the court was asked to decide whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ guarantee of liberty, equality and religious freedom requires medical care providers to respect the decisions of children under the age of 16 to refuse medical treatment.