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I came across a link from one of Terri's supporters, and can't remember which one, or where I found the link. But after following it, and clicking on other links there, and eventually getting totally lost in cyberspace, I came across this interesting article. There's a lot of good stuff on that page, but scroll down to see the following.

http://www.internationaltaskforce.org/fctwww.htm

Tube Feeding: Neither New Nor Rare

In fact, food and water have been provided by means of gastrostomy tube for over 100 years 70 and, according to a government report, at least 848,100 people per year receive food by means of a tube in hospitals, nursing homes or in their own homes. 71 A gastrostomy tube, inserted through the abdominal wall directly into the stomach, is a simple surgical procedure that can be performed under local anesthesia. Once inserted, the small incision heals and its presence causes essentially no discomfort to the majority of people. 72 Yet, in the debate over food and fluids, this simple procedure has been described as one which is highly invasive and highly risky.
The 1984 case of Mary Hier 73 illustrates how the classification of tube feeding as a "medical treatment" can to be used when the intent was to withhold food and fluids.
Ninety-two-year-old Mary Hier had lived in a state hospital for more that fifty- seven years. Elderly and demented, she thought she was the Queen of England. She was not terminally ill. Because of a Zenkers diverticulum in Mr. Hier's pharyngeal esophagus made it almost impossible for adequate food and fluids to pass down her esophagus to her stomach, she had received food by means of a gastrostomy tube for many years. When, in an unexplained incident, Ms. Hier's gastrostomy tube became dislodged, the care facility sought to replace the tube.
Although her guardian ad litem argued that nutrition should be differentiated from treatment, the Court declared, "We do not agree that such a distinction should be drawn as a matter of law." 74 The Court noted that the 1983 President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine had taken the position that "artificial feeding" should be thought of as a "treatment" decision. 75 Additionally the Court found that replacing Ms. Hier's gastrostomy tube would entail a "major medical procedure" that was "highly intrusive" and entailed a "relatively high risk to the patient due to her age." 76 Permission to replace the tube was denied.
Mary Hier's story and her life might have ended there had it not been for the fact that, just as her case was being reported, another story appeared in the same newspaper. It concerned a ninety-four-year-old woman who was doing well following "minor surgery to correct a nutritional problem." The surgery had been performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. The woman's name was Rose Kennedy and the "minor surgery to correct a nutritional problem" was insertion of a gastrostomy tube. 77 For ninety-four-year old Rose Kennedy, matriarch of a rich and powerful family, tube feeding was a mere correction of a nutritional problem. For ninety-two-year-old Mary Hier, poor and mentally ill, it was termed "medical treatment" that was too invasive and risky for a woman of her age.
Last minute intervention by a local physician and an attorney did eventually lead to Mary Hier' s tube feeding being provided again, and both Mary Hier and Rose Kennedy lived for many additional years.
The choice of words to describe the method of providing food and fluids, as illustrated in the case of Mary Hier, depends upon whether the discussion is intended to lead to their being provided or withheld. Manipulative terminology, using the language of treatment rather than care, has also been used to describe not only the tube but also the food itself. For example, referring to food received by tube as "artificially implanted nutrition and hydration" 78 seemed a patent attempt to create the illusion that food and fluids themselves are exotic medical treatment. Yet it seems doubtful that those who contend that food and fluids become "treatment" if taken by tube would tolerate others calling penicillin or milk of magnesia "food" when taken by mouth.
Lunch Trays Bearing Treatment