ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Article 17 right to physical and mental integrity as well as Article 25 right to health. These two articles relates to the individual's right to accept or refuse treatment and the State's role in protecting people with disabilities from situations that may be injurious to their integrity as well as to their health. The chapter examines that under Article 17, people with and without disabilities have a right to refuse treatment. Once a person refuses treatment, the treating professional is not permitted to treat the person, unless or until the person changes his or her mind and provides free and informed consent for the treatment. However, under Article 25 a person with a disability cannot be denied the right to health. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) does not resolve this potential conflict between the right to health and the right to refuse or consent to treatment.
