In 2019, Ms Lewis began her battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, ultimately leading her to require organ transplant surgery as a means of survival, but she discovered that she would be forced to take COVID-19 injections if she wished to continue.
For her own reasons, Ms Lewis has not and will not take this experimental jab.
This led to the submission of an application to the Alberta Court of Queen’s bench where she asked: “that the court uphold her Charter-protected right to conscience, bodily autonomy, and freedom to choose without coercion.”
Following the judge’s ruling on their client, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) released a statement with regards to the court’s conclusion on July 12.
Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench judge has ruled that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to the decision of an organ transplant team, which requires candidates to be vaccinated for Covid prior to their organ transplant.
This case is under a publication ban. Due to a Court Order, the Justice Centre may not reveal the names of the doctors, the hospital, the city where the transplant program is located, nor the name of the organ that Ms. Lewis needs for life-saving surgery.
The transplant program team is a group of doctors who work within an organ transplant program, which is funded by Alberta Health Services (“AHS”). Both the transplant program and AHS have unwritten policies which require transplant candidates to receive the Covid vaccine prior to receiving their transplant.
Justice R. P. Belzil found that while the Charter applies to AHS, in this instance “the proposed AHS policy, which has not been completed, mirrors the recommendations of the treating physicians which are exercising clinical judgment.”
Justice Belzil declined to address the scientific and ethical arguments advanced because he determined that the Charter did not apply to the treating physicians.
Watch her interview here.
