Can Royal Assent mean Guernsey revisits assisted dying laws?
BBCA second Crown dependency receiving Royal Assent for an assisted dying law could make it easier for other places to enact their own legislation, a senior politician in Guernsey says.
A law to allow terminally ill adults the right to choose to end their own lives was given Royal Assent in Jersey by King Charles III earlier this year.
The Assisted Dying (Jersey) Law 2026 will come into force when it is registered at Jersey's Royal Court, although it will not come into effect until next year.
Currently assisted dying in Guernsey is still illegal but advocates think 2027 might be the year to try again.
'Jumped through hoops'
States Deputy Gavin St Pier has been pushing for movement on the issue in Guernsey for more than a decade.
In 2018, Guernsey's government rejected proposals for assisted dying after a three-day debate which he championed.
St Pier said: "It was heavily defeated at that time but, obviously, a lot has changed since then in terms of the number of jurisdictions which have moved to adopt assisted dying regimes."
He said he believed Jersey and the Isle of Man receiving Royal Assent meant it was "time for Guernsey to revisit this" because "they've jumped through all the hoops".
"Jersey in particular has gone through a citizen's assembly to help shape the law there and they've also had an ethics review before the legislation was returned to the State Assembly in Jersey," he said.
He added he hoped that debate in Guernsey could happen next year, which would be nine years after the last time it was debated in Guernsey.
"We've got a template that we can really pick up and use, and I think that does make the whole conversation a lot easier than perhaps it was nine years ago," he said.
'Best accessible service'
Dr Alex Allinson, architect of the Isle of Man's Assisted Dying Bill, said the island had been campaigning for assisting decades for more than three decades.
He said he thought Jersey and the Isle of Man could provide a model for other places considering similar laws in the future - as well learn from existing models.
He said: "I've been talking with people in New Zealand... They've had the same issues in terms of bringing in assisted dying for small communities where people know who the doctor or the nurse is.
"We can learn from other people... to get the best accessible service for our people as well."
Dr Gordon Macdonald is CEO of Care Not Killing, an alliance of about 50 groups, including faith-based and pro-life organisations, opposed to legalising euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide in the United Kingdom.
He said: "Legislators would be better fixing end-of-life care, which includes palliative and social care on the island."
He added: "Legislators must also reflect on the dangers of legalising the use of dangerous death row drugs to end a person's life."
Macdonald said the Christa Pike case in the US, who survived an execution attempt by lethal injection, "highlights the problematic use of pentobarbital, and other similar drugs that are widely used by the handful of jurisdictions that legalising assisted dying".
He called for legislators to review the evidence carefully and "fix the failing palliative and social care systems before even considering a dangerous change to the law".
"We need much more care, not killing," he said.
