Hats off to The Argus for its prominent coverage of Dr Michael Irwin and the important but taboo subject of assisted suicide (The Argus, September 5 and 7).

One objection to assisted suicide is religious and stems from the idea that life, being God-given, is of infinite worth. Because a few seconds of life are of infinite worth, nothing must be done to hasten death.

However, from exactly the same starting assumption we can calculate that a short life and a long one must both be of infinite worth – which implies a shortened life has no less value than a long one.

Many people believe only religion can offer us ultimate answers.

They are correct – ultimately useless answers.

Dr Robert Stovold
Bath Street, Brighton