"Dear David,
"Family members get very disturbed when their dying relatives do not want to eat"
How about when their non-dying relatives do want to eat or drink and are denied the opportunity? Do you think this would be disturbing to family members? Apparently not as often, since those who did ask to be fed or for a drink, such as Ella Bathurst and Marjorie Nighbert, were denied the right to make this decision on their own, being in the midst of being killed by their own family at the time. It is so inconvenient to have a disabled family member keep living on and on, after all. Particularly if there is money waiting to be inherited.
"There is nothing unusual about terminating hydration and nutrition"
Yes, that does seem to be true. In this country currently, it is becoming more and more routine to dehydrate people. The funny thing about it that keeps coming to my mind are the specific populations targeted for this incredibly "humane" process, like the elderly, the disabled, and imperfect children and infants. There is something in common among all of these populations. Do you think you can figure out what it is? After that, do you think you can figure out which country and when previously headed down this same path? (hint - recall a term previously used to describe them, "useless eaters").
And you know, I bet those kids in the ICU at Boston Childrens will be labeled the same way, when they take them for organ harvesting prior to death. Since many of them are brain damaged as well, why bother with anesthesia, even? Think of the savings!
Good luck to you and yours! May you never be faced with an imperfection that inhibits death enough to irritate your inheriting family members.
Laurie