I guess the situation is just a lot simpler in my view. When you strip it down to the essentials, what Greer had to decide was:
Is it right or wrong to withhold water and food from a person who cannot voice objection?
"Evidence" is not necessary to answer such a question.
"Evidence" is not necessary to answer such a question.
Yes, it is. Florida law, like most other states, not only permits but directs health care facilities to withhold food and water from patients who have indicated a desire for that to happen under those circumstances.
It might surprise you, but I volunteered to help employees of a local Catholic hospital fill out their Advanced Directives (living wills) last week, and out of the 50 or so that I did, only one expressed the desire to remain alive in a situation similar to Terri's.
That really surprised me at a Catholic hospital.
In any event, Judge Greer did have to make that determination, and it required evidence. Whatever that evidence might have been.