> If Deirde decided not to eat enough to survive in protest of Bush's policy on > Iraq, moreover, we'd likely (at least many would likely) applaud her > principled stand and not lock her up. But if Deirde starved herself because her > family abandoned her and she could no longer bear the pain, we almost certainly > would lock her up and force feed her.
I'm not sure that's true. The British used to force-feed IRA hunger strikers (Bobby Sands died anyway) and the Soviets force-fed refusniks like Natan Shcharanksy. I think the U.S. force-feeds prisoners who go on hunger strikes. --Robert
