A Hypothetical: Quinlan Under Ohio Law

WITH THE DECISION by all of the respondents in In re Quinlan not to appeal their case to the United States Supreme Court, the people in this country will have to wait for a definitive statement of law on a person's right to die and on a guardian's standing to assert that right for his ward. Because of the dearth of precedent in this area, each state court that is faced with the prospect of reviewing a case like Quinlan will have to grapple with its own constitutional and statutory schemes in order to make a determination of these difficult issues. It is the purpose of this comment to explore a hypothetical situation, to take the facts of the Quinlan case as revealed in the New Jersey Superior Court' and the New Jersey Supreme Court opinions and interpret them under applicable Ohio law.