IN her article Joffe's Bill not a licence to kill' (SA, May 17) Shirley Mathias writes with intelligence, grasp of logic and caring thoughtfulness for her fellow human beings, unlike the many Lords and black and white clad clerics' who voted against the measure.

Did they all bother to read and take time to understand Lord Joffe's proposals and the stringent safeguards to be applied, or did they simply apply tunnel vision to bolster their own prejudices?

How could Lord Stoddart, ex-MP for Swindon, if fully aware of the proposed Bill and of the rigid safeguards, describe it as dangerous? Why? How could a humanist, of all people, say that living is better than dying' on Radio 4's Any Questions?

If she were in terminal decline from a ghastly illness, such as motor neurone disease would she still express this view?

Human beings still have the right to die through the right to refuse medical intervention and medication, even though they are aware that this decision will result in death. But it will then be a chosen death with dignity. I have known many people who have chosen this path. Who are the rest of us to deny them?

I sincerely hope that Lord Joffe will re-introduce his Bill in the next Parliamentary session and that rational thought and understanding will replace emotive sentimentality in our civilised society.

V M YOUNG.

Lakeside, Swindon