American Legal Figure. Born Mary Ann Monahan and adopted at birth. Her case was one of the first to call attention to the "right to die" debate nationally. At age 21 she fell into a coma in April 1975 after mixing drugs and alcohol at a party while also on a crash diet. Diagnosed with irreparable brain damage and being a persistent vegetative state, she had been on a respirator and a feeding tube for about a year when her family asked hospital authorities to remove her from life support; believing that the extraordinary measures used to artificially prolong her life was causing her pain. The hospital she was in, Saint Claire's in Boonton, New Jersey, refused, and the county prosecutor threatened charges of homicide if Karen Ann Quinlan was removed from life support. The Quinlans sue for their daughter's right to die naturally, and were finally granted permission from the New Jersey Supreme Court to remove Karen from life support in 1976. In May 1976 she was removed from the artificial ventilator, and surprisingly she began breathing on her own. She lived another eight years in the vegetative state until she died in 1985.
American Legal Figure. Born Mary Ann Monahan and adopted at birth. Her case was one of the first to call attention to the "right to die" debate nationally. At age 21 she fell into a coma in April 1975 after mixing drugs and alcohol at a party while also on a crash diet. Diagnosed with irreparable brain damage and being a persistent vegetative state, she had been on a respirator and a feeding tube for about a year when her family asked hospital authorities to remove her from life support; believing that the extraordinary measures used to artificially prolong her life was causing her pain. The hospital she was in, Saint Claire's in Boonton, New Jersey, refused, and the county prosecutor threatened charges of homicide if Karen Ann Quinlan was removed from life support. The Quinlans sue for their daughter's right to die naturally, and were finally granted permission from the New Jersey Supreme Court to remove Karen from life support in 1976. In May 1976 she was removed from the artificial ventilator, and surprisingly she began breathing on her own. She lived another eight years in the vegetative state until she died in 1985.
Bio by: Joel Manuel
Inscription
A Precious Gift
Family Members
Parents
Advertisement
See more Quinlan memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
