We consider how the sufficiency of young adults’ autonomy is judged in light of biological, social and psychological evidence that adolescence can continue into the mid 20s. Until then, adolescent adults are prone to developmental immaturity which can affect risk taking, impulsivity, and independence in decision making. Some areas of law are starting to accommodate the impacts of adolescence into adulthood, and this article considers how they do so and whether and if so how the law relating to medical treatment refusals in England and Wales might similarly adapt. We argue that the right to full decision-making about medical treatment refusals at 18 based on the adult status of the individual should accommodate greater sensitivity to individual developmental attributes and set out three ways in which that might be achieved.

中文翻译：

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医院大门的万能钥匙：拒绝维持生命的医疗的青少年

我们考虑如何根据青春期可以持续到 20 多岁的生物学、社会和心理学证据来判断年轻人的自主性是否充分。在此之前，青少年很容易发育不成熟，这会影响冒险、冲动和决策的独立性。一些法律领域开始适应青春期对成年期的影响，本文考虑了它们如何做到这一点，以及英格兰和威尔士有关拒绝医疗的法律是否以及如果是的话如何进行类似的调整。我们认为，根据个人的成年状况在 18 岁时就拒绝医疗做出全面决策的权利应该考虑到对个人发展属性的更大敏感性，并列出了可能实现这一目标的三种方式。