Many of the medical and technological tools that can prolong the life or ease the pain of the terminally ill provoke controversy, because certain medical choices may also shorten the lives of patients. The question of retaining or withdrawing nutritional life support for dying patients, for example, reveals sharp differences of opinion within the medical community and among the general public.

The provision of food and fluids by tube is a common form of life support for weak, injured, or unconscious patients. Tube feeding is of great benefit to burn victims and to people recovering from surgery and serious intestinal disorders. However, some experts do not believe that nutritional life support is appropriate for patients in the last stages of terminal illness. In fact, they argue, tube feeding often prolongs the dying process and increases...