Letter to the Editor: I applaud the Cambrian News in being willing to air this challenging and controversial issue (A right to die?, Cambrian News, 23 November). I also applaud Louise Eastland for her courage in telling her personal story of coping with secondary progressive MS and the potential difficulties of living with its future progression.

Having had this same chronic illness for the past 30 years or so I fully recognise her fears for the future. So far I have been relatively lucky. I am not able to walk very far and have a goodly number of the usual MS issues, but at 76 I can still push the pedals and cycle as stoker on the rear of our tandem trike.

I know though that things could change at any time. I too think a change in the law on assisted dying is urgently needed. It should not be necessary for people to go through the trials faced by Sharon Johnson and Sue Lawford and many others.

With proper safeguards an assisted death at home should be legally allowed in a civilised society.

I recognise that people with religious faith have strong objections. That is their personal right. However I do not think that it is their moral right to want to impose those rights in such a way that a right to die is prevented for others who do not share their religious faith.

The campaigning group ‘My Death My Decision’ reports that support for assisted death is at around 88 per cent in the British population and survey results suggest that a change in the law is actually supported by 71 per cent of those with religious beliefs.

Katherine Cuthbert,

Aberystwyth