Nation : 20 Protesters Held in Bid to Force-Feed Right-to-Die Patient

Protesters tried to get to the hospital room of right-to-die patient Nancy Cruzan to reconnect her feeding tube today but guards halted them inside the hospital and 20 were arrested.

Missouri Rehabilitation Center Director Don Lamkins said the protesters were initially allowed in public areas but arrests were made later in the morning because some of the protesters blocked the stairwell to the second floor, which also serves as a fire exit, attempting to get to her room.

Jasper County Probate Judge Charles Teel ruled last Friday that Cruzan’s parents could remove the feeding tube that had kept their comatose daughter alive for seven years.

The Rev. Joseph Foreman of Montreat, N.C., who announced Monday that he would lead 40 activists in an attempt to force-feed Cruzan, was one of those arrested.