Woman who tried to take COVID transplant fight to Supreme Court dies
By The Canadian Press on August 25, 2023.
An Alberta woman who tried to take her fight over COVID vaccine rules to the Supreme Court has died. The former lawyer for Sheila Annette Lewis confirmed her death today. Lewis was diagnosed with a terminal disease in 2018 and was told she would not survive unless she received an organ transplant. She was placed on a transplant wait-list in 2020, but was informed a year later she would need to get the COVID-19 vaccine first. Lewis said taking the vaccine would offend her conscience and argued the requirement violated her Charter rights. The case was dismissed by an Alberta court, which said the Charter has no application to clinical treatment decisions. The Supreme Court also turned down her application for a hearing. Allison Pejovic, who represented Lewis, says her former client was a woman with strong beliefs and a kind heart. 9-8
