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The Twentieth Anniversary of the Quinlan Decision: Karen's Parents Share their Story.

Joseph and Julia Quinlan. They are the parents of Karen Ann Quinlan. It's been twenty years since the New Jersey State Supreme Court issued it's landmark decision (March 31, 1976) allowing their comatose daughter to be removed from a ventilator. She then lived nine more years. The Quinlans wrote about Karen in the book "Karen Ann: The Quinlans Tell Their Story," (Doubleday-1977). In 1980 they used the proceeds from the book to open the Karen Ann Quinlan Center of Hope Hospice in Newton, New Jersey. (201)383-0115

35:45
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Other segments from the episode on April 9, 1996

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, April 9, 1996: Interview with Joseph and Julia Quinlan; Interview with Art Caplan.
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15:31

The Twentieth Anniversary of the Quinlan Decision: The Ethics of Removing Life Support.

Medical ethicist Art Caplan. He's Director of the Center for Bioethics and Trustee Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. He'll talk with Terry about the ethics of death and dying and how the debate has changed since the Quinlan's first brought their case before the court. Caplan's most recent book is "Moral Matters: Ethical Issues in Medicine and the Life Sciences." (John Wiley & Sons).

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