Letter: There is life after darkness Euthanasia: an easy way out

LOUISE Jury's article about the plight of Annie Lindsell moved me deeply, as I am sure it must have moved many ("Dying woman pleads for dignity at the last", 21 January). Her plea for the legalisation of euthanasia on a voluntary basis has been heard by many, including myself, many times and I hope with deep understanding. The danger is not, in my view, that unscrupulous relatives or well-intentioned friends may seize an opportunity to help a sufferer to end their lives. Legislation can cover such eventualities.

Instead, the danger stems from the wishes of the sufferers themselves. No amount of legislation can safeguard the patient who in a moment of extreme pain or deep depression asks for the final release. Helped by drugs, therapy or human support I have time and again seen people who after such a crisis have been only too glad to be alive.

It is for that reason that I and many others are opposed to any bill which makes voluntary euthanasia legal.

Michael J J Platt

Impington, Cambridge