What did the Vatican say about nutrition and hydration in 2007?

The 2007 responses from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith answered two questions, and both were framed specifically about patients in a vegetative state.

The responses said that food and water, even given artificially, are in principle an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life, and are obligatory "to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient." John Paul II had used a similar qualifier in a 2004 address.

The accompanying Vatican commentary explains why that case is different from a dying cancer patient. It notes that people in a vegetative state "breathe spontaneously, digest food naturally, carry on other metabolic functions, and are in a stable situation," and that if food and fluid were withheld, "the cause of their death will be neither an illness nor the vegetative state itself, but solely starvation and dehydration."

That reasoning does not transfer to someone whose cancer is ending their life. The same commentary allows for cases where a patient cannot assimilate food and liquids, or where assisted nutrition is excessively burdensome.

For the dying patient specifically, the texts to look at are Directive 58 and Samaritanus bonus, which address it directly.