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Blagojevich general counsel resignsAssociated Press - December 30, 2008 8:14 PM ET CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's chief lawyer has quit the administration to go back to private practice. William Quinlan resigned today as general counsel, a state government job. Quinlan is the latest top adviser to Blagojevich to resign since the Chicago Democrat was arrested on federal corruption charges earlier this month. Other recent departures include former chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested along with Blagojevich, and Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee. Blagojevich has been accused of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate...

Almost 30 years ago, a 21-year-old named Karen Ann Quinlan lapsed into a persistent vegetative state after drinking too much alcohol and taking Valium at a party. Karen‘s parents waged a legal battle for the right to remove their daughter‘s life support. And they eventually succeeded. But Karen continued to breath after the respirator was unplugged and remained in a coma for almost 10 years until her death in 1985. Karen would have been 51 years old next week. JULIA QUINLAN, MOTHER OF KAREN ANN QUINLAN Well, it‘s—in some ways, it‘s very similar to Terri Schiavo‘s case. In some ways,...

Karen Ann Quinlan was the first modern icon of the right-to-die debate. The 21-year-old Quinlan collapsed at a party after swallowing alcohol and the tranquilizer Valium on April 14, 1975. Doctors saved her life, but she suffered brain damage and lapsed into a persistent vegetative state. Karen Ann Quinlan A dispute arose between the hospital officials and Karen’s parents about whether or not she should be removed from her respirator. Karen’s parents did not want to take extraordinary means to keep Karen alive; however, the hospital officials disagreed and wanted to keep her alive. The Quinlans believed that they had...

It was nearly 25 years ago that Robert Drinan, a member of Congress and an outspoken Jesuit (a redundancy if there ever was one), so enraged the Vatican with his defense of abortion rights that an order came down from Rome demanding priests withdraw from politics. advertisement It appears that someone has had a change of heart. Or at least that's how it seems now that certain segments of the Roman Catholic hierarchy are behaving like wholly owned subsidiaries of the Republican Party, hellbent on a course that will weaken the church's moral authority and eventually deplete its membership. And...