Dear Dr. Well,

When my mother asked you to help her die, you explained that you were unsure about the morality of euthanasia as you were a Christian and believed that life was sacred. Well I am a Christian too and I have a different opinion based on my Christian beliefs and before you dismiss my mother's request I would ask you to consider what I have to say.

God is a God of love. Sometimes, the loving thing to do is to stop suffering. Keeping someone alive needlessly doesn't always bring glory to God. My mother is in so much pain. She has trusted in Jesus too, she knows she's going to heaven. She just doesn't see that God wants her to suffer in such an undignified manner.

When God created us, He gave us dominion (power) over other living things. Do you really think God doesn't want us to have power over when we die?

God wants us to have a good quality of life. Indeed Jesus even said 'I have come that you might have life, life in all its fullness.' My mother does not have a good quality of life and will never have it; surely a God of love would want us to help a dying person carry out their own wish to end this life.

There is nothing in the Bible that says a person should be kept alive at any cost. As Christians, surely the quality of life is more important than just keeping someone alive? God wants us to show compassion to others. Jesus summarised the law as 'Love God, Love your neighbour as yourself.' We are commanded to love one another. As Christians, we should look at the details of every individual circumstance. A Christian philosopher called Fletcher said that the moral thing to do in any situation is to do what is most loving. This is what God commanded us to do - to love others. It may be that in the situation of your patient, the most loving thing to do is to let your patient die. This is called situation ethics. Look at my mother's situation. She is of sound mind. She has had a good life but her life is now full of pain. She hates relying on people to wash her, toilet her etc. Do not dismiss my mother's request out of hand.

Think and pray about it please.

I thank you for your time and care to date.

Love from

Ian De'Ath