Assisted dying vote on Isle of Man marks 'truly historic day'

A landmark assisted dying vote is set to take place on the Isle of Man on Tuesday as a Bill seeking to change the law faces its Third Reading.

If it passes this stage, it will be the furthest such a proposal has ever progressed in the British Isles.

Ahead of the historic day, nurse and Member of the House of Keys Clare Barber told the Daily Express: “There’s an incredibly strong feeling coming from across the island that people want this.”

The MHK for Douglas East has been seconding the Bill, which introduced by GP Dr Alex Allinson.

It aims to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults with a prognosis of one year or less. The Daily Express Give Us Our Last Rights crusade campaigns for a similar law to be introduced across the UK.

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Ms Barber said her support for assisted dying was influenced by her experiences working in nursing homes from the age of 15.

She said: “Quite quickly I came across cases where I couldn’t really understand why we would leave people to suffer.

“Everyone was doing everything they possibly could to mitigate symptoms, but when you’ve got people who are on end of life care, who have got extensive breathlessness or are in pain that just can’t be resolved, it makes you start to question that.”

Ms Barber, who serves as a minister in the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, recalled the case of one elderly woman whose “body was breaking down from the outside in”.

She said: “We were repositioning her every 10-15 minutes and still that was hurting her. We were giving her all the pain relief we could and her body was just breaking down before our eyes.

“She was desperate to be allowed to just die and there was nothing we could do.

“That was incredibly challenging for her, for us as staff, and for her family to see her going through that. It’s absolutely right that it’s a person’s decision.”

Further experiences in hospices and intensive care wards showed there were “limitations to what we can do in the medical profession”, Ms Barber added.

Last month, members of the Royal College of Nursing passed a resolution at its annual congress saying the meeting “supports the principles of assisted dying”.

The motion said that, with legislation now progressing in various corners of the British Isles, the RCN should “consider how the voice of nursing can influence and ensure the principles around assisted dying are considered and support nurses”.

Ms Barber said: “The RCN result doesn’t surprise me. When you see people die, you start to form your opinions about what death should look like and what a good death is.”

Asked whether she believed the Bill would pass its Third Reading, the MHK said she believed it had “a strong level of support across the House of Keys”.

She added: “Equally, it’s not a race. We have got to get it right and that’s why we have taken so long over the clauses, we’ve taken the time to consult and engage.

“I absolutely accept that there are some people who, while they are coming at it from a place of compassion, they remain nervous. I respect that.”

Ms Barber added that she is a Christian but does not see her faith “as a barrier to assisted dying”.

She explained: “From my perspective, compassion and the alleviation of suffering absolutely goes hand in hand with the core tenet of Christianity.”

Campaigners - including those with personal experience of loved ones who suffered difficult deaths - will gather outside Tynwald ahead of the Third Reading debate.

If enough MHKs vote in favour, the Bill will progress to the Legislative Council for further debate and scrutiny.

It could then receive Royal Assent as soon as next year, with assisted dying potentially available to Manx residents from 2027.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said: “This will be a truly historic day in the Isle of Man.

“MHKs have spent the last few months ensuring that this law will be both tightly safeguarded and much kinder than the current law, which causes untold suffering to the terminally ill and their loved ones.

“They should be congratulated for pressing ahead with this most urgent reform despite efforts from opponents to kick it into the long grass.

“The people of the Isle of Man are demanding change, and MHKs are on the cusp of delivering a compassionate choice that dying people have long been waiting for.”

Progress in the Isle of Man comes as a Bill aiming to legalise assisted dying in England is due to be introduced in Westminster on Friday.

Lord Falconer launched the latest bid after being drawn second in the Lords Private Members’ Bill ballot last week.

He said the current blanket ban was “a mess and offers no compassion or protection to those at the end of their lives”.

Lord Falconer added: “The public has been waiting long enough for us to change the law and this Bill could at last right the harms inflicted by our outdated laws. It is urgently time for compassion and change.”