Karen Ann Quinlan

Karen Ann Quinlan (March 29, 1954–June 11, 1985) was an important figure in the history of the right to die debate. Her case raised important questions in bioethics, euthanasia, legal guardianship and civil rights.

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In April 1975, Quinlan went on a radical diet, reportedly in order to fit into a dress that she had recently bought. On April 15, having eaten nothing but a few slices of bread over a period of roughly 48 hours, she attended a party at a friend's house. After consuming alcohol (and allegedly Valium tranquilizers, although this has been disputed by her family), Quinlan told her friends that she was feeling dizzy and went off to lie down on her friend's bed. She was found a while later by partygoers, unconscious and not breathing. She suffered irreversible brain damage after experiencing an extended period of respiratory failure, and subsequently was placed on a respirator in hospital. No precise cause of her respiratory failure has been given, although her mother has said that the doctors' best guess was that she fell asleep or passed out and choked on her own vomit. This could have been caused by the combination of alcohol and the weakness caused by her self-imposed deprivation of food.

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Her parents wanted to have her taken off the respirator that was sustaining her, but hospital officials refused. In 1976, the Quinlans took their case to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which sided with her parents in its decision. When she was taken off the respirator, Quinlan surprised many by continuing to breathe unaided, and was fed by artificial nutrition for nine more years. She lived in a persistent vegetative state until her death from pneumonia in 1985.

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March 29: March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). There are 277 days remaining....

1954: 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar....

June 11: June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining....

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