Beverley Broadbent is my hero. Her “rational suicide” (The Age, 2/4/13) was a beacon for those of us who passionately believe, as John Stuart Mill said so long ago, that people have the right of sovereignty over their own mind and body. Now there is hope that the medical profession may finally be catching up with their patients’ wishes regarding dying with dignity. Let us hope more doctors have the courage and compassion of brave Nick Carr, who had consultations with Beverley (“A doctor’s dilemma”, The Age, 22/2).

Meredith Doig, Rationalist Society of Australia, St Kilda East