Isle of Man would become first of British Isles to legalize assisted suicide

CV NEWS FEED // The government of Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency, is close to passing legislation to provide terminally ill adults “the right” to assisted suicide, BBC News reported Jan. 28.

The news outlet reported that seven of the eight Members of the Legislative Council (MLC), which is the Upper House of Tynwald, passed the bill. MLC Paul Craine voted against the bill, saying that there should be more restrictions.

According to Isle of Man Today, Member of the House of Keys (MHK) Dr. Alex Allinson had proposed the bill. MHKs, which are the lower house, will now decide whether to approve changes the Legislative Council proposed. The MLCs decided that the bill should require referral to a psychiatrist if the patient’s mental capacity is questionable and training for health care professionals to notice whether the patient is under coercion, duress, or pressure. The MLCs also favored requiring that patients seeking assisted suicide be registered with an Isle of Man general physician.

BBC reported that MLCs decided in December that people needed to be residents of the Isle of Man for at least one year to become eligible for assisted suicide.

Additionally, MHKs said those applying for assisted suicide had to be adults and, according to two doctors, have no more than one year to live.

After the MHKs and MLCs agree on the bill, it would be submitted for Royal Assent, according to Tynwald’s website. Lt. Gov. Sir John Lorimer, whom the British monarch appointed, typically provides Royal Assent.

If the bill is approved, the Isle of Man would become the first of the British Isles to legalize assisted dying, and the bill may take effect in 2027, according to Isle of Man Today.

Also on Jan. 28, the United Kingdom Parliament’s committee on Member of Parliament Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill started public evidence sessions and the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee held its second-to-last evidence session regarding Member of the Scottish Parliament Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults bill, the outlet reported.

Catholic bishops in the United Kingdom, Wales and Scotland have been vocally opposed to such legislation, as CatholicVote previously reported.

In a Jan. 10 statement that the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland’s Catholic Parliamentary Office published, the Conference praised Scottish government proposals regarding palliative care, saying they “uphold the dignity of human life” and “stand in stark contrast to the dangerous Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.”