ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the few reported legal cases which deal directly with maternal brain-death. It examines in particular how and if these cases could apply to the Canadian legal system. The chapter establishes a proper legal opinion regarding the treatment of brain-dead pregnant women and also investigates whether an analogy from other situations of posthumous reproduction could be made. It draws some conclusions and formulates some practical suggestions. Some suggestions have been made in the literature about the management of pregnancy complicated by maternal brain-death. The suggestion of Dillon et al. is as arbitrary as the viability criteria, and Wear et al'.s test is obscure, as it is not clear if and when there is a compelling fetal interest. Peart et al. seem to offer a more reasonable balance, giving proper weight to the woman's interest. The chapter also presents an overview of the concepts discussed in this book.
