[Tarantulas]

My biggest concern: since when is food and water considered treatment?

Under Florida law, the feeding tube is in the same category as a "breathing tube" or ventilator:

(10) "Life-prolonging procedure" means any medical procedure, treatment, or intervention, including artificially provided sustenance and hydration, which sustains, restores, or supplants a spontaneous vital function. The term does not include the administration of medication or performance of medical procedure, when such medication or procedure is deemed necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain.

Reference

[Tree of Liberty]

That change was made in '99, I believe, and that Felos was a major proponent of the alteration.

[nicmarlo]

The 1997 Florida Statutes

(9)  "Life-prolonging procedure" means any medical
procedure, treatment, or intervention which:

(a)  Utilizes mechanical or other artificial means to
sustain, restore, or supplant a spontaneous vital function;
and

(b)  When applied to a patient in a terminal condition,
serves only to prolong the process of dying.

The term "life-prolonging procedure" does not include the
administration of medication or performance of medical 
procedure, when such medication or procedure is deemed
necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain.

This was THE LAW in effect AT THE TIME TERRI COLLAPSED.

[supercat]

(10) "Life-prolonging procedure" means any medical procedure, treatment, or intervention, including artificially provided sustenance and hydration, which sustains, restores, or supplants a spontaneous vital function. The term does not include the administration of medication or performance of medical procedure, when such medication or procedure is deemed necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain.

Suppose that, in future, legislators declared air conditioning to be a "life-prolonging procedure" [it's actually a more recent invention than invalid feeders]. Would this mean that people who, under today's standards did not want to receive "live-proloning procedures", should be left outside in the Florida sun in the middle of summer?