In Response to: Lesley’s Story [6]

I would like to thank both Lesley McAllister ’91 and Mark Bernstein ’83 for the extraordinary article he wrote about her (cover story, Sept. 14). As a professor of palliative medicine, I can only say they covered the topic of end-of-life decision-making with extraordinary breadth, depth, and clarity. Terminally ill patients able to avail themselves of good palliative care and hospice services very seldom choose suicide. However, I see no reason why a law as carefully written as California’s should not be on the books.