[3] In addition to Canada being a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,[4] several Canadian provinces have laws about supported decision-making.
The court can appoint an administrator with greater financial powers and can make decisions without the person's approval, but this does not mean that all decision-making rights are lost.
The law also establishes that no action can take away a person's right to vote, marry, have friends and relationships and place a child up for adoption.
Some states, such as Arkansas, have narrower laws addressing supported decision-making in specific contexts, such as in decisions related to organ transplants.
[12] In 2013, Jenny Hatch, a woman with Down syndrome, living in Newport News, Virginia, won the right to make her own decisions using supported decision-making.
Hatch was previously under guardianship, where she says she was forced to live in a group home, had her cell phone and laptop taken, and was cut off from her friends.