The right to privacy and the right to die.

Some of the most significant Supreme Court decisions have, in recent years, been based upon a constitutionally protected right of privacy; that is, an individual's right to be free from unwarranted intrusions into his personal affairs. This constitutionally protected right of privacy was first used to protect an individual's rights to use contraceptives, under the theory that the state enforcement of anti-contraception statutes would be an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy of the marital bedroom. Sometime later, the same right of privacy was used to grant women a constitutionally protected right to obtain an abortion and prohibited the state or other entities from unreasonable interference with that right. Most recently, this right of privacy has been utilized as a basis to terminate medical treatment of an irrevocably ill patient. It is ironic that this right of privacy, used for such significant decisions, is not a specific right granted by the United States Constitution, but is rather a judicially-formulated right which is said to flow from the penumbra of rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. The Karen Quinlan Case The most recent application of the right of privacy was made in a unanimous decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court which removed legal impediments from having Karen Anne Quinlan removed from a respirator. The 22-year-old Miss Quinlan has been kept alive by use of life supporting equipment for almost a year after she lost consciousness, apparently as a result of an adverse reaction of a combination of alcohol and tranquilizers. The prevailing medical opinion has been that there is no reasonable probability of Karen ever emerging from her present comatose condition or that other significant recovery will occur. However, Miss Quinlan's physician and hospital refused to permit the life supporting equipment to be disconnected for fear of possible civil and legal sanctions. The parents of Miss Quinlan were convinced that she would never recover, and that if she could have chosen, she would never have chosen to linger and languish in the twilight between life and death, supported only by modern medical machinery; but rather, she would have desired a death with dignity. They