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Christine Busalacchi ate and drank on her own well but her father had her dehydrated to death because of her incontinence.

This statement concerned me, as I'd never heard of Christine Busalacchi, so I did a Google search. From what I could find, she was severely brain damaged in a car accident in 1987, and was unable to eat and drink on her own. She was diagnosed as PVS and was declared incompetent to make her own decisions, but she was probably incontinent as well. Nowhere did I see that incontinence was the reason for her father seeking to have her feeding tube removed, and nowhere did I see that she was able to eat and drink on her own. If incontinence were the only reason, I'm sure someone would have been happy to pay for her Depends. Do you have a source for that? Thanks.

From what I could find, she was severely brain damaged in a car accident in 1987, and was unable to eat and drink on her own. She was diagnosed as PVS and was declared incompetent to make her own decisions, but she was probably incontinent as well. Nowhere did I see that incontinence was the reason for her father seeking to have her feeding tube removed, and nowhere did I see that she was able to eat and drink on her own

Well you're not so up on this, then, are you?

The state of Missouri Public Health went to court to try to save Christine and made video of her, which was given to all four major tv stations in St. Louis and shown that evening. In the video Christine waved to the camera, smiled, and moved her legs. Also Time featured Christine on the cover and in the piece stated that she ate and drank. Her father was interviewed about why he wanted her to die and said he did not think she wanted to live in a diaper.

So don't be so sure you can find everything on the internet. Back in Christine's time, the net was not so much a part of our lives.

Besides there are numerous sites on the web stating that Christine could eat.

The Busalacchi controversy was not about making a medical decision: Christine was neither dying nor too sick to receive food. In fact, in 1991, she was able to take most of her food by mouth before her father insisted that only the feeding tube be used. The controversy was not about the severity of disability: There are many people who cannot smile, eat, or laugh like Christine could (even as a so–called "reflex") who are currently receiving care and treatment. And despite the offensive and medically untestable label of "vegetative," a recent study showed that most of the families studied were unwilling to withdraw food and water.