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someone mentioned Karen Quinlan being an euthanasia case, my understanding is that euthanasia is about actively doing something to make someone die, like give an overdose of morphine, like doctor assisted suicide

ah I saw a documentary on Karen Quinlan case and to the best of my recollection, Karen's case was exactly like Terry's in that the family clung to hope that she would recover, after 5 years or so, they gave up hope but when they wanted to remove all life support the hospital and various religious groups fought them, and when they eventually prevailed, they removed the feeding tube (I can't remember if she was on a respirator too) and sadly she took a few weeks to die

this was a religious family, they were beyond reproach, they loved their daughter very much, and they wanted to let their daughter go to heaven and end her suffering,

I seem to recall that the doctors did take extreme measures to save her initially, the family felt in retrospect it had been God's will that she should have died then


433 posted on 03/19/2005 2:33:37 PM PST by llama hunter
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To: llama hunter

You're extremely confused. Karen Ann Quinlan was on a respirator.

The respirator was removed, and she lived for nine years more.

Her food and water were never removed.


444 posted on 03/19/2005 2:42:55 PM PST by B Knotts
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To: llama hunter

I believe in Quinlan's case, the family eventually fought to have her removed from the respirator and prevailed. However, the feeding tube remained, and she didn't die for several more years.


445 posted on 03/19/2005 2:44:10 PM PST by Dog Gone
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