Abstract
The refusal of the provision of blood products to the children of Jehovah's Witnesses represents a particularly well-known and discussed case of collision between the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion on the one hand and the right to life of the child as well as the society's interest on the protection of children on the other. The current doctrinal debates on the appropriateness of the standard of the best interests of the child in the provision of health care to children adds another layer of complexity to the topic.
The paper deals with the fundamental questions related to the topic: how is the interference of the state in the decision-making regarding the paediatric health care justified from the perspective of human rights law?; what are its limits?; and to what extent should the child's own opinion be taken into account? The paper is based on Czech case law and international law applicable in the Czech Republic but its conclusion can be widely generalised.