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Glad you are feeling better and back to posting! I found this at internationaltaskforce.or/fctaf.htm
International Task Force
on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
The following are the questions asked most frequently about what has become known as "artificial feeding:"
Q: What is "artificial feeding"?
A: "Artificial feeding" is not a medical term. It's a catch phrase that is generally thought to mean food and fluids provided by means of tube. In fact, in court cases, expert witnesses have testified that "artificial feeding" can include spoon feeding and that the food brought on a tray to a patient in a convalescent home can be considered "medical treatment" because the patient's diet must receive physician approval.
(2) Q: Why prolong the lives of people who are severely brain damaged or are in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) or coma? Wouldn’t it be better to let them die a peaceful death?
A: First, let’s look at what is meant by PVS and coma. News accounts often confuse the two terms, sometimes using them interchangeably. They’re not the same. PVS is a term used to describe someone who is awake but unaware. The person has no apparent ability to understand or respond. Coma, on the other hand, is a sleeplike state from which the person cannot be wakened. Often these terms are used inaccurately.
A person who is in a coma or persistent vegetative state can’t say she's thirsty. Similarly, a severely brain damaged person may be unable to express himself. Such individuals won’t even understand what’s happening. They'll simply feel thirst and, within five to 21 days, they will die of dehydration. (Although it's often said that a person dies of starvation and dehydration. Actually, when food and fluids are removed, the person dies from dehydration, not starvation.)Removing their food and water isn’t "letting them die." It’s making them die. Nor is this type of death "putting them out of their misery," as some would say. Instead it’s putting them into misery - the misery of dying in an excruciating manner. How could dying of thirst possibly be considered a peaceful death?
Q: Aren't painkillers given to prevent suffering during the dehydration?
A: Yes. This is often done. The fact remains, however, that the pain is caused by denying food and water to the person.
Q: Is taking away artificial feeding the same as euthanasia?
A: Taking away food and water, no matter how they are provided, is euthanasia if the purpose of doing so is to cause death.