Assisted Dying Bill passed by Legislative Council
BBCProposed laws to give terminally ill adults the right to choose to end their own lives have passed their final stage in the upper chamber of the Manx parliament.
The Assisted Dying Bill 2023 has already made its passage through the House of Keys and its 15 clauses were considered by the Legislative Council in December.
During its final stage in the Council, Paul Craine MLC said stronger safeguards were needed, but Peter Greenhill MLC said the bill was about "choice for those who are about to die".
Amendments made by MLCs need to be agreed by the House of Keys before the bill can be put forward for Royal Assent.
Members of the House of Keys had previously agreed those eligible would have to be over the age of 18 and have a prognosis of 12 months or less to live, with the decision being verified by two independent doctors.
During the clauses stage of the bill in December, MLCs agreed the residency criteria to be eligible for an assisted death should be reduced from five years to 12 months.
At its first sitting of the year, the council discussed several updated amendments, including Craine's bid to introduce of a social worker as a third person to to authorise an assisted death, something previously rejected by MLCs.
In December he suggested that the individual should have more than 10 years of experience and have had training to identify coercion, and that the post holder fitted the definition of a social worker under the Regulation of Care Act 2013.
In newly tabled amendments, Craine instead moved that a social worker with any level of experience should be added to the list of counter signatories, and be recognised under definitions in the Regulation of Care Act 2013 or the Mental health Act 1998.
Further amendments set out to ensure the workers were trained in how to spot coercion and be satisfied the person has a "clear and settled intention to end their own life", which has been reached voluntarily.
He said he was concerned the bill did not have "adequate safeguards" and it was "a big issue with a lot a stake".
Supporting the change Dawn Kinnish MLC said it could add to the protections of the bill and would "in no way create barriers" as the social worker could look through "a non-medical lens" and support those wishing to use the service.
Kerry Sharpe MLC said while she understood the arguments she felt the proposals were "robust enough already" as it "insisted that training in spotting coercion would be available for doctors involved in assisted dying".
Ultimately the majority of MLCs rejected those moves, along with a revised amendment that would have removed a stipulation that the "attending doctor" had 10 years of experience.
However, Craine's recommendation to add "undue influence" to references to "coercion and duress" was supported by members.
Outlining his concerns over the progress of the bill and urging the House of Keys to introduce stronger safeguards, he said one person's autonomy "impacts on others" and could "add to their sense of burden".
"We've added safeguarding around the very edge of this, around the peripherals, we haven't got the heart of safeguarding," he added.
Ahead of the final vote, in which the bill was backed by seven of the eight MLCs at the sitting, Greenhill said he "fully respected" that many people would not wish to make use of it, but the proposals were for those who would.
The MLC, who guided the proposal through the upper chamber of the Manx parliament, said some terminally ill patients would "experience severe physical or emotional distress that cannot be relieved, and will wish to make the choice to end their life in a controlled and dignified way".
If the changes made by the Council are agreed by the House of Keys, the bill will be sent for Royal Assent, with the new laws set to be place in 2027.
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