The first place in the British Isles is preparing to approve the right to die

A law giving terminally ill adults in the Isle of Man the right to end their lives has entered its final stages, making it the first jurisdiction in the British Isles to legalize medically assisted death.

Anyone over the age of 18 who expects to live 12 months or less would be eligible, under legislation being debated in the Manx Parliament.

The bill will not yet be approved, as the Isle of Man House of Assembly rejected an amendment that would have meant people would only need to reside on the island for one year to benefit from the legislation.

The Keys Council continued to insist on the five-year stay and returned the legislation to the Senate.

The move comes as MPs in Westminster scrutinize a bill that would legalize euthanasia in England and Wales. A separate bill is under discussion in Scotland.

People in the Isle of Man who are eligible to request assisted dying must:

• You have a terminal illness and are “reasonably expected” to die within 12 months
• You must be over 18 years old
• Be registered with an Isle of Man GP
• To have the legal capacity to make a decision
• The decision has been verified by two independent doctors

These measures were the subject of heated debate in the island’s parliament, Tynwald.

The bill is likely to receive royal assent and become law, with the scheme potentially operational by 2027.

Jersey – a self-governing territory like the Isle of Man that can make its own laws – is also moving forward with legislation to establish an assisted dying service.

Former GP Dr Alex Allinson introduced the Private Members’ Bill to Tynwald and was pivotal in getting it through the legislative process.

He hopes this is the last time he will need to be discussed by the directly elected council.

“Passing this bill has been a long and careful process that began in 2022, and has been consulted, scrutinized and put through a full parliamentary process,” says Dr Allinson.

“It lays the foundation for further work to implement a service on the island for those facing terminal illness and who desire greater independence and dignity at the time of their death.”

Among the key provisions in the latest version of the bill are measures related to age and duration of diagnosis.

the Bill for terminally ill adults (end of life), It was introduced by Labor MP Kim Leadbeater, and is currently under scrutiny by MPs in Westminster.

If passed, it will become law in England and Wales.

It has some similarities to Isle of Man legislation – people must be terminally ill, over 18 and registered with a GP.

Both projects demonstrate the need for patients to have the mental capacity to make a decision and to be considered to have expressed a clear, stable and informed wish, free of coercion or pressure.

The Isle of Man Bill stated that people were expected to live less than 12 months, but Leadbeater’s Bill adopted a more conservative six months.

Manx’s suggestion that people must have lived for five years on the island to be eligible is an attempt to stop people going there to take advantage of the scheme, as people do by traveling to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

In the Isle of Man, two independent doctors would have to approve a request for assisted dying, but Leadbeater It was recently suggested That cases in England and Wales could be approved by a panel of experts rather than a single judge, as originally proposed.

The change has proven controversial, but is one of about 300 amendments being considered by a cross-party committee of MPs.

Meanwhile, the proposed legislation in Jersey includes restrictions very similar to the Westminster plans. However, she does have a proposal that would extend the right to die for terminally ill adults who have six or fewer months to live to 12 months for people with neurodegenerative diseases.

As with the Westminster legislation, the Isle of Man has seen some passionate campaigning for and against the proposed new law.

A third of doctors who responded to a survey by the Isle of Man Medical Association in 2023 said they would consider leaving if the legislation was introduced.

Some doctors fear the legislation would be a “slippery slope” that would lead to expanding the scope of the laws.

Isle of Man GP Dr Martin Rankin is a member of the Medical Association and is concerned about the risks of coercion, where vulnerable people are pressured to end their lives early.

“With the safeguards in place in this matter, I would not know if someone was coerced by a relative into ending their life sooner than they wished.

“So I’m really not going to get involved in that.”

However, there were some passionate activists who spent years fighting for this legislation.

Millie Blenkinsopf French lost her son James to neck cancer when he was just 52 years old.

It was an extremely difficult and painful death which reinforced her belief in assisted dying for the terminally ill.

“No person in their right mind would be against assisted dying if they had to sit, as I did, and watch my son die.

“I wish with all my heart and soul that assisted dying had existed at that time, I really do, because he would have chosen that. He was not a stupid boy, he was a very intelligent young man.”

“And it’s going to give a whole lot of people the opportunity that James didn’t have, and give a whole lot of people the opportunity to say, you know, enough is enough, let me move on.”

The Isle of Man legislation now appears to be on track to become law, but while politicians in Jersey, Westminster and Holyrood are also considering their own proposals, the wider debate over euthanasia is far from over.