
Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health
5-4
00:00
The Importance of Dignity, Autonomy and Freedom in Disability
Nancy Cruzanne was 25 in 1983 when she got into a serious car accident that left her in a permanent vegetative state. Her family wanted to take her off of life support and let her die naturally. But the state of Missouri said that that was not enough and insisted that she remain on life support. The family sued, claiming that this violated the fundamental right to liberty under the constitution. A five-to-four decision by Chief Justice William Renquist disagreed and held that Missouri could keep Nancy on life support indefinitely.
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