IF you were paralysed from the neck down and only being kept alive by a ventilator, would you want the right to ask for the machine to be switched off?

In law, everyone has the right to refuse medical treatment provided that they are acting responsibly.

The recent case of the woman who has applied to the High Court to have her ventilator switched off raises these difficult questions.

I believe that the woman should have the right, provided that she comes to the decision after very careful thought and without any pressure from others around her.

The individual right of self-determination is very important. Unless this right is preserved, it limits human responsibility and makes us totally dependent on others in an unhealthy way. To want others to make this kind of decision for me lessens my stature as a human being. We must make decisions for children but, surely, as adults, we have to take some responsibility for ourselves.

If I were in such a position, I am not sure what kind of decision I would make. I like to think that I would courageously struggle on as far as it was possible to go. But I would like to think that other people would respect my wishes if I decided differently.

I also believe that God would respect my decision, provided that I made it after very careful thought, and provided that my first thoughts were not for myself but for other people. There comes a point at which the ordinary processes of dying needs to be allowed to take over. If I am conscious and in my right mind, I should be allowed to make such a decision for myself

Of course, there needs to be safeguards. It would have to be a settled decision taken after a lot of thought. It would need to be free from the psychological pressures that others might place upon me. It would also need to be a situation where there was no hope of recovery.

The needs of the medical profession also must be taken into account. No doctor or nurse should be forced by my decision to act against their conscience. If I have a right to self-determination, the professionals involved should also have rights.

These issues to do with the limits of human life and responsibility are huge. But the religious perspective on life puts death into proper proportion. The Love of God is greater than death and, if we are grasped by it, we see things differently.

VIEW FROM THE PULPIT

Michael Williams,Vicar of Bolton Parish Church