Christian Faith: Doctors and Charter Protections

christian faith: McKitty's family turned to the courts to prevent doctors from taking her off life support, saying her Christian faith defines death as the cessation of heartbeat, not of brain function, according to CTV. Citing charter protections, they argued doctors should make accommodations for religious beliefs in making a determination of death, and obtained an injunction to keep her on a respirator while the case was before the courts. Taquisha McKitty was 27 when doctors declared her dead by neurological criteria in September of last year following a drug overdose that left her unconscious on a Brampton, Ont., sidewalk. An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled against them over the summer, saying the charter does not apply to McKitty because the document only protects persons and McKitty, because she is clinically brain dead, is not legally a person. McKitty's family is asking Ontario's highest court to overturn the decision, set aside her death certificate and refer any dispute about her treatment to the Consent and Capacity Board, an independent provincial tribunal that rules in matters involving issues such as a person's capacity to consent to or refuse treatment. The judge also said in her ruling that death could not, in Ontario, be subject to a person's wishes or beliefs because that could lead to an unacceptable level of medical, legal and societal uncertainty and cause potential adverse effects on the health-care and organ donation system. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.