Letter to the Editor: With reference to your extensive coverage of the case of Louisa Eastland who is suffering from MS (A right to die?, Cambrian News, 23 November), please allow me to make the follow­ing comments.

Every now and then some individual with a serious debilitating illness goes public to press for a change in the law which would legalise euthanasia. This places people who for ethical and moral reasons are opposed, in an awkward position since their voice can all too easily be called “uncompassionate” or “self-righteous” when in fact it is not.

One cannot but sympathise deeply and genuinely with Louisa Eastland.

On the other hand, one wonders whether she has reflected sufficiently on the implications of her wish as regards the wider society as well. Euthanasia has been legalised in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada for some time now, and for all the talk about “safeguards”, the practice has only increased to the point where even children are euthanised.­

The signs are unpromising here too: for instance, in hospital wards “Not for Resuscitation” notes are sometimes placed on patients’ beds when resuscitation and a longer lease of life might be possible; inevitably an atmosphere of general mistrust and fear can arise, especially among the older and more seriously ill patients; and of course, there can be financial advantages for the hospital management (an ever-increasing danger in these days of continual cuts and increased costs) not to mention relatives impatient for a share of the inheritance.

Let us not deceive ourselves. We could easily, given the present general social climate and the untiring efforts of the euthanasia lobby, end up as another euthanasia state with life becoming more perilous for many.

Not a few people these days, as has been the case down the centuries, face a natural death bravely, even heroically, unbeknownst to the wider society; a friend of mine who has for years been suffering from MS has not allowed it to diminish her gratitude for the wonderful gift of simply being alive, even in that condition.­

Applying to be euthanised is essentially the same as suicide, a most unnatural act which even animals don’t do. What is needed is encouragement and help to live, not die.

I sincerely hope that Louisa will reconsider – things might turn out to be not as bad as she thinks they will.

Iestyn Daniel

Waunfawr, Aberystwyth