Terminating artificial feeding for dying infants: ethics, emotions, and societal impact.

Abstract

Abstract This last year has seen the sudden emergence of the issue of termination of nutrition. Public attention has focused on a number of cases, most notably the unsuccessful attempt by Elizabeth Bouvia, a twenty-six year old cerebral palsy victim, to refuse ordinary food and water while remaining in the psychiatric unit of a hospital (1), and on the ultimately unsuccessful homicide prosecution of two California doctors who removed a feeding tube from a comatose patient (2). Less dramatic but nonetheless significant is the increasing interest of scholarly writers in this hitherto ignored problem. Because the problem itself is not new, it is worthwhile to consider not only the ethical issues it raises, but also the significance of its emergence now rather than 10 years earlier or 10 years hence. I will focus on both these aspects with particular attention to the plight of terminally ill or dying newborns.