Commonwealth v. Nixon

OPINION

ZAPPALA, Justice.

We granted allocatur for this Court to consider two issues. First, we consider whether to adopt a “mature minor doctrine” which would be an affirmative defense to the parental duty to provide care to a minor. Secondly, we consider whether Shannon Nixon had a right to refuse medical care pursuant to her privacy rights under the constitutions of the United States and this Commonwealth. For the reasons that follow, we choose not to adopt a “mature minor doctrine” as a criminal defense and further, we find that Shannon Nixon’s constitutional right to privacy did not…