Miss Marple, I understand the point. However, the State of Florida, and a lot of other states consider feeding tubes to be life saving measures.
I have come to realize that most freepers did not consider a feeding tube to be a life saving measure and so have been occasionally using that term to make a point.
I think a national conversation is a good idea about this matter. This kind of thing is rarely litigated in the courts. Senator Frist said the courts only see this 4-5 or 5-6 (I've forgotten) times a year. Of course, he was wrong about a few other things he said too so I don't know about the veracity of that statement.
But when we discuss this with people, let the national dialog be clear about what life saving measures are all about. Including the fact that our medical community and Medicaid cannot possibly sustain the cost of keeping people who have no quality of life alive indefinitely.
By the way Peaches, be damn nice to your family, you never know when they may think you are too much of a strain on the old family budget whether you agree or not......Can you see it now? Every time you go to the Doctor or to the hospital, start to worry you just may be taken as being a burden to society. Eskimo's use to take their elderly and put them on icebergs to feed the polar bears. Don't have any icebergs in Southern California, maybe us oldsters better start thinking about heading south of the border if we want to die on our terms. You my dear were born in the wrong generation and wrong country. You miss your calling a couple of generations ago. There were a whole race of people marching lockstep with your way of thinking. I'm telling you people, Peach is pretty much telling you what is coming....So baby boomers pay attention, because there are those that are hell bent in making sure you will not be a "burden" their definition to society and your family is not going to be able to save you. By the way Peaches, have you ordered your burka yet? I bet you are a real class act in powder blue.