I was more than surprised by the earlier letters published, condemning Dr Jonquiere's visit and his talk on euthanasia. I can only conclude that those opponents have never experienced the painful end that some people have to endure.
My father was diagnosed with lung cancer, he was given less than three months to live, but lasted some dreadful 18 months, at times in excruciating pain.
Later, in the 1990s, an aunty was bedridden in a rest home for six years. Each night, she prayed she would be taken. Could the earlier writers cope with the incontinence, the bedsores, the devastated dignity and the pain? Or expect somebody else to do what they could not cope with themselves? All good if the reality in these cases is hidden from view.
Recently, a paraplegic friend experienced a stroke that disabled him further. With no help to "die with dignity", he starved himself to death - an awful and painful end.
One would not let an animal experience that trauma.
