Eris Smyth, Battery Point.

MARK Brown, director of the Christian Lobby, writes as if those who support the introduction of euthanasia wish to make it compulsory (The Examiner, April 20) and that those estate-pinching ne’er do-wells who want to knock off granny will simply pop along to their GP and be given something they can put in her evening cuppa. No questions asked. What nonsense. The safeguards he rubbishes seem to be working perfectly well in those countries practicing euthanasia. There, doctors are not ‘pressured’ into assisting the dying; clinics have been established solely for that purpose. People wishing to die will, over time, meet and talk with several clinicians: evidence will be assessed; further meetings arranged; legal proof stating that the person wishes to die will be created in the form of a signed, and countersigned affidavit, or a short video if the person is physically unable to write. Informed consent is the rule, not persuasion or coercion. Before the lethal dose is given he or she is again reminded several times that if they take it, it will kill them. The process can be stopped at any time. If I wish to end my life in the comfort of a warm bed, perhaps a last glass of red and the pleasure of the final chapter of a favourite book before I quietly go to sleep; well, that’s mine.

Dave Robinson, Newstead.

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