A difficult and moving story came out of Perth this week. Christian Rossiter is a 49-year-old former stockbroker wants permission to die. Once a keen bushwalker, cyclist and rock-climber, a series of spinal injuries have left him a quadriplegic, confined to a wheelchair, in great pain, and needing 24-hour care.

If he could, Mr Rossiter says he'd simply stop eating, but he can't make that choice, given that he's fed through a tube. He's asked the nurses at his Brightwater Care nursing home to stop feeding him, but they're bound by law to continue. They've now gone to the Supreme Court for advice. If they're granted permission to withdraw Mr Rossiter's food it could set a new precedent in the euthanasia debate.

Dr Greg Pike is a medical ethicist, and director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, and joins me now. He spoke to us about the moral and ethical complications of this story, and the implications that would follow if the law were changed to grant Mr Rossiter's wish.

We then had a number of insightful callers sharing their thoughts on the value of life, pain and disability, and the hope that can be found in seemingly hopeless situations.

• If you have experience in the area of severe disability and could share some insight - perhaps into what Mr Rossiter might be going through, tell us your thoughts.
 
• If you are a carer who works with the disabled, or with the elderly, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the value of life, even when the body is failing.
 
• Is it ever ok to stop supporting life?
 
• Does the value of life depend on the quality of that life?