EDMONTON — Alberta’s government proposed legislative changes Monday to the provincial Bill of Rights aimed at giving residents the right to refuse medical treatments, including vaccines, but is leaving the final word to the courts. If passed, the new bill would protect Albertans from being "coerced" into receiving any kind of medical treatment, so long as an individual has the "capacity" to consent and is not likely to cause "substantial harm to themselves and others." However, the bill doesn't specifically define those terms and Justice Minister Mickey Amery told reporters the government would rely on case law and the courts to decide how they'd be interpreted.
Before introducing the bill, Amery said the United Conservative government wants to make clear it won’t be able to force any Albertan to receive a treatment they do not want. “We're focusing a whole lot on vaccinations, but the intention is to cover a wide variety of potential medical procedures and treatments that government may impose on Albertans," he said. Premier Danielle Smith said the Bill of Rights amendments have also been worded so as not to conflict with the UCP's plan to introduce legislation giving police and family the authority to force drug users into treatment.
Smith said she believes the courts would agree that a person who overdoses 186 times in a year “lacks capacity to make decisions.” "If a person is able to assess their own their own ability to make (a) choice in whether to accept or.