Letter: The contradictions medics face when it comes to the debate over assisted dying

Neonatal medicine advances and the 1967 Abortion Act present a conundrum.

Consider two unborn child at just under 24 weeks into pregnancy.

Both are at the same NHS hospital: one for "resuscitation" and one for "termination".

Are there similar contradictions with Esther Rantzen's call for so-called "assisted dying"?

NHS psychiatry colleagues often speak of an escalating number of self-harm consultations.

Complex risk assessments can take 1-2 hours and client numbers seen on a single shift can be high.

Assisted dying could leave us with this problem: one set of doctors at a hospital site advise clients to "choose life" while another group freely discuss the use of fatal poisons.

James Hardy, Belfast BT5