Baby M dies after Supreme Court denies jailed mother’s appeal

Baby M, the 2-year-old girl at the center of an emotional court battle, has died after doctors removed her from life support late Thursday.

The Edmonton, Alberta girl’s mother had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada to keep her breathing after a lower court agreed with doctors who said she had no chance of recovery.

A three-justice panel denied the mother’s application earlier Thursday, the Edmonton Journal reported.

Paramedics found the girl and her twin sister badly beaten and starving after responding to a 9-1-1 call in late May.

Baby M, as courts refer to her, was in cardiac arrest with head injuries, the National Post said.

She had been in a coma ever since, CBC reported.

Her parents are both in jail facing abuse charges; they said their final goodbyes, separately, during 20-minute visits earlier Thursday.

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Police suspect the parents had abused the girls since birth; Baby M weighed 13 pounds when police intervened while her sister was 16 pounds.

Baby M’s twin is living in foster care along with her older brother, who police found uninjured.

The parents – both 34-year-old Algerian immigrants – said their love for the girl and their Muslim religion demand they keep the girl alive.

Muslim scholars in Canada have refuted those claims, saying nowhere in Islamic teaching does it advocate for people in vegetative states be kept breathing, the Post reported.

Now that Baby M has died, the parents will likely face murder charges.

They are to appear in court later today for a bail hearing, Global TV said.

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