Refusal of medical treatment by Jehovah’s witness patients: an analysis of the position of the Federal Supreme Court from the perspective of the right to body autonomy

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the right to refuse medical treatment due to personal convictions, based on the position adopted by the Supreme Federal Court when, on two recent occasions, was faced with lawsuits filed by Jehovah’s Witness patients who wished to undergo alternative treatment that did not involve blood transfusions. The text is divided into two parts, the first dedicated to the study of the two decisions handed down and the rationales employed by the Court, and the second delving into issues related to the right to bodily self-government. The problem to be investigated involves the limits of the right to bodily autonomy. The hypothesis is that, properly understood, the right to one’s own body involves a broader basis than freedom of belief and can be extended to other situations that do not involve objections of a religious nature. The methodology adopted will be a bibliographic review, involving national and foreign doctrine, as well as an analysis of the positions of the Justices of the Court.