Guest 7.41 you are right in everything you say, from my experience. Someone who's body is 'naturally' closing down loses the desire to feed and drink. They do not die either starving of food or craving for water. They close down slowly and with the right medication it can be peacefully.

Our bodies instinctively know what they need to live and I believe they also know when sustenance is no longer needed.

For six weeks we watched our father being pumped full of steroids that falsely stimulated appetite. He ate everything in sight and was never 'full.' To the point where he had to be given drugs to purge the food from his body before his bowel ruptured.

Without the steroids he stopped eating and drinking. But was never hungry or thirsty. He lasted five days and they were the only five days of peace he had in the last six weeks. All he asked was that we moistened his lips with a damp cotton bud, so they wouldnt crack and bleed. He had the 'natural' instinct to avoid pain.

Rabbi Sol... a body that is dying doesn't need sustenance to exist. It needs to be allowed to die. Could you really sit back and watch a relative/friend be wracked in pain, just because you have the means to do so?

Mary Garvey ...I can't believe I am defending catholicism, but the hospice that provided our father the dignity to die peacefully was a 'catholic' hospice. Guess they're not all bad.

Guest 7.41...bet you're feeling angry as hell right now? Don't expend any energy on justifying your actions to those who have never been there...or lack the compassion to imagine being there. You have my sincere condolences.