Date of Award

3-16-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Laws (LLM)

Keywords

Health law, Healthcare, Human rights, Birth, Childbirth, Labour, Pregnancy, Relational autonomy, Autonomy, Consent, Dignity, Self-determination, Restorative justice, Reproductive rights, Obstetric violence, Obstetrics, Obstetrician, Midwifery, Midwives, Physician, Caesarean section, C-section, Vaginal delivery, Birth plans, Home birth, Free birth, Newborn, Fetus, Birthing people, Women, Birth evacuation, Birth alert, Canada Health Act, Canada

First Advisor

Roxanne Mykitiuk

Abstract

While it is trite law in Canada that patients have the right to make their own medical decisions, news reports, regulatory complaints, and civil claims indicate that this right is failing to translate to delivery rooms. This thesis examines the gaps between the legal rights of birthing people in Canada as they exist “on the books” and the way those rights are experienced, using the critical theory of Law in Action. Building on feminist critiques of the traditional liberal conception of autonomy, this thesis conceptualizes childbirth as an experience deeply embedded in relations to others and concludes that to close the gaps between legal rights and lived experiences, we must craft law and policy in a manner that accounts for the broader relational context in which childbirth occurs.

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