Assisted dying supporters gather for draft law vote

A group of supporters in favour of a new assisted dying law in Jersey have gathered outside the States with politicians due to vote on the draft legislation this week.

The States members voted in 2024 to approve plans to allow assisted dying for those with terminal illnesses that cause or are expected to cause unbearable suffering.

About a dozen supporters of the law held banners in the square, with statements such as "give dying people in Jersey choice", as politicians arrived at the States building.

On Sunday, Christian leaders led a group prayer outside the States, which they said was attended by more than 200 people, "to pray for our States Members" and show concerns about assisted dying.

The Walk for Life gathering was convened by Pastor Drew Waller, of the Jersey Baptist Church, and Dr John Stewart-Jones, one of the founding pastors of Freedom Church Jersey.

They said: "Christians from across the Island of Jersey gathered to pray in the Royal Square."

They added the "gathering was prayerful, reverent and united as they gave thanks for the Island politicians, recognising their enormous responsibility as they vote on issues that would affect the vulnerable into the long-term".

Plans for legalising assisted dying were voted on in principle by the States in 2021, with the 2024 vote deciding how it could work in practice.

The proposal would apply to terminally ill people with a life expectancy of six months, or up to 12 months for those with conditions such as Parkinson's disease or Motor Neurone Disease.

This week, politicians will debate the principles of the draft law, including an amendment to remove a waiver over concerns it would allow people to give up the need to reconfirm that they want an assisted death.

Campaigner Lorna Pirozzolo, who has incurable breast cancer, said some of the pain she faced was "the most extreme the body can take".

"For me, with that level of pain, there was still a potential surgical cure," she said.

"For somebody who's already at the end of their life, why should they go through that?

"It's unnecessary torture and it's inhumane to leave somebody going through that when they're already dying."

The organisers of the weekend's Walk for Life gathering explained that "the hundreds of people attending broke down into small groups to pray together at various points, about their great concern for the unintended consequences of the introduction of Assisted Dying, that has been expressed over the last few years".

Those gathered also sang songs and the Lord's Prayer was said, which the group said had also been "prayed in unison in several Island churches as their members could not attend because of their later Sunday Service starting times".

Previously, the Dean of Jersey, the Very Reverend Mike Keirle, told the States he was worried people could feel pressured to go down the assisted dying route.

He said autonomy can be subject to many "external pressures".

However, chief executive of the UK campaign group Dignity in Dying, Sarah Wootton, said it was really important dying people had choice and control at the end of their lives.

She said the draft law seemed "thorough and robust".