[Alberta's Child]

That's incorrect. The Karen Quinlan case specifically involved family members who wanted to have her removed from a true artificial means of life support (a respirator). There was never any question that the parents would keep the feeding tube in place, which is why she survived for another eight or nine years after they "pulled the plug."

The Nancy Cruzan case wasn't a state law -- it was a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the "Men in Black Robes" overturned a Missouri law that prohibited the removal of a feeding tube.

[unbalanced but fair]

When did I say any of that? I said many state laws began after those. I'm well aware of the decisions and their repercussions. And why is a respirator more of an artifical life support than say a feeding tube?