[ContraryMary]

What made it exceptional was that there was NOTHING in writing and based on contradictory oral testimony, a severly handicapped woman was going to be starved and dehydrated to death.

In most cases today there IS nothing in writing. So that is not exceptional. The contradictory oral testimony was shown to be less than believable. And, contrary to what you might think, most people in the final stages of the dying process do not eat and drink up to their final minutes. As a nurse you should know that. Or am I incorrect in my belief that you are a nurse?

[TAdams8591]

I am not a nurse but worked through college and after, part time in hospitals caring for such patients. I cared for my own father 20 years ago when he was dying of cancer.

With cancer patients yes you are correct. When they are nearing death they aspirate food, and thus in that event a feeding tube is NOT a good idea. BUT TERRI WAS NOT DYING.

Feeding tubes, do not even require electricity and are not modern technolgy in the same sense that heart and lung machines are. Believe it or not the earliest feeding tubes existed in Egyptian times. They were used with some regularity in the civil war, and their last innovation was in the late 70's, early 80's.