Right to Die
The Schiavo case is yet another in which the courts have wrestled with the difficult issue of a person’s “right to die”. The first widely publicized American “right to die” case involved Karen Ann Quinlan, whose father Joseph waged a legal battle to remove her life support system because she was in a persistent vegetative state. His lawyer argued that the decision to remove life support was in Karen's best interest and furthermore was protected by the right to privacy. The Supreme Court of New Jersey unanimously decided in favor of Joseph Quinlan. The U. S. Supreme Court first addressed the issue of the right to die in the 1990 case of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. Nancy Cruzan was in a comatose state and her family wished to remove her feeding tube. In this case the Court concluded that the right to die was a liberty protected by the Due Process Clause. University of Pittsburgh School of Law professor Alan Meisel is the author of a comprehensive book examining the right to die from a legal and ethical perspective: The right to die John Wiley, New York, 1995. ISBN: 0471046728
Research Extra is JURIST's weblog of background briefs on legal news, written by the reference librarians of the Barco Law Library, University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
CONTACT JURIST'S PAPER CHASE
JURIST's Research Extra welcomes comments and reaction from readers. E-mail us at:
