Isle of Man assisted suicide bill

A private members' proposal that would legalise doctor-assisted suicide on the Isle of Man has received support in the House of Keys.

A public consultation process will now begin and if there is support from islanders, legislation will be drafted and brought before the Manx parliament.

The proposal is the fourth to be brought forward in the last two years in the UK or crown dependencies, with live proposals in England, Scotland, and Jersey.

At the weekend, it emerged that suicide legislation due to be lodged at the Scottish Parliament this year has been pushed back to early 2023.

In an interview with the Sunday Herald, Liam McArthur noted the "unprecedented" response to a consultation on the plans as a reason for the new timetable.

Speaking at the start of this year, after a call for views on Mr McArthur's proposals closed, CARE for Scotland spokesman Stuart Weir commented:

"The huge response to this consultation underlines just how alarming and controversial Liam McArthur's proposals are in Scotland and more widely. Many people are deeply upset at the prospect of legislation that would see suicide normalised in healthcare, with all the resultant harms for patients, medics and wider society.

"Good societies treat suicide as a terrible act, to be mourned and prevented. We want to see a Scotland where hope and help are at the centre of our response to human suffering, not lethal drugs. And we want to see excellent end-of-life care for every person. When assisted suicide is legalised, this goal is undermined.

"We call on MSPs in every party to carefully review the evidence of assisted suicide's harms and reject this latest attempt to change the law, as parliament has done on more than one occasion in the past."