Are food and water “extraordinary” or “artificial” measures?
What about someone like Terri Schaivo for whom death is not imminent, given that ordinary care, such as food and water are continued? J. P. Moreland addressed the issue of nutrition in his “The Euthanasia Debate”: Some believe that food and water should be viewed as any other treatment, and cases where passive euthanasia would be justified in general cases, for example, in which it would be appropriate to stop renal dialysis are cases where foregoing artificial nutrition and hydration would be justified. On the other hand, there are those who argue that artificial food and water should not be foregone…. Three reasons are offered for this. First, ethically speaking, artificial food and water are in a category different from life-sustaining medical treatments. The latter clearly function to treat some specific disease or to assist some diseased bodily function. But food and water do not have as their direct or immediate intention the cure of any pathological condition whatsoever. Secon
