Assisted dying in British Isles set to come one step closer with ‘landmark vote’ in Isle of Man

Assisted dying laws could come a step closer in the British Isles on Tuesday if the Isle of Man passes a draft law on the issue – but most Britons would be excluded under the proposals.

Dr Alex Allinson, who sits in the parliament of the self-governing crown dependency, said he is “cautiously optimistic” his draft bill will pass its second reading – paving the way for assisted dying services offered as soon as 2025.

The bill would permit terminally ill, mentally competent adults to request assisted dying, subject to approval from two independent doctors – though only those who have been “ordinarily resident on the island for not less than one year” are eligible under the draft legislation.

The Isle of Man, which has a population of just 80,000, has wide autonomy to set its own laws – though the UK retains the power to block legislation.

In Jersey, another crown dependency, the local parliament declared “in principle” that assisted dying should be allowed in 2021 – but proposed legislation on the issue has been pushed back until late 2024 citing “the time and consideration required to consider the issue”.

While a number of countries have laws that permit assisted dying, at the moment many Britons wishing to end their lives choose to head to Switzerland – which permits the assistance of voluntary euthanasia for non-resident foreigners.

It comes as the UK Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has set up a working group to look at the “practical implications” of any potential change in the law on assisted dying with around two-thirds of Britons now supporting it. The RCGP remains officially opposed to a change following a survey in 2020 which showed 47 per cent agreed the college should remain opposed to a change in the law. The decision will be reviewed in 2025.

In July, social care minister Helen Whately told a parliamentary committee hearing evidence into assisted dying and assisted suicide in England and Wales that debate in this “sensitive area” is one that should be led by MPs at Westminster and that it is an “issue of conscience” for members of Parliament to decide. The Health and Social Care Committee, which heard from peers, experts and Swiss organisations including Dignitas during its sessions, is expected to publish a report later this year.

Assisted suicide is currently banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. In Scotland, assisted dying is not a specific criminal offence but assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to murder or other charges.

Pro-change campaign group Dignity in Dying has described the Isle of Man’s Assisted Dying Bill as a “landmark vote”, saying that if it is approved “the Isle of Man will be on the path to become the first part of the British Isles to legalise assisted dying as an option for its terminally ill, mentally competent citizens, subject to strict safeguards”.

If voted through this week, the bill would then immediately be put to another vote on whether it is to be scrutinised by a small committee or debated by the whole Parliament.

Dr Allinson, a Treasury minister on the Isle of Man who introduced the proposals last year as a private member’s bill, said: “If it is passed, this is just for Isle of Man residents, so it doesn’t satisfy the needs of people in other neighbouring jurisdictions. But I think what it does show is that appetite amongst our public, and their elected representatives, to bring forward progressive legislation that will provide for assisted dying.”

Care Not Killing, an anti-euthanasia campaign linked to a network of Christian pressure groups, said changing the law would perpetuate a message “that those with a terminal or chronic condition will die in terrible pain, that current palliative care cannot help them, and they should instead opt to have doctors administer death row drugs to end their lives”.