Campaigner's concerns over assisted dying laws

Alex Schadenberg believes any proposed safeguards would eroded over time

The Isle of Man should not "open the door" to proposed assisted dying laws, a Canadian campaigner has said.

The Assisted Dying Bill 2023 would give terminally ill people with less than six months to live the right to end their lives.

Alex Schadenberg from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition believes proposed safeguards would be eroded over time.

Mr Schadenberg is set to share his views at public meeting on the issue in Douglas on Tuesday, organised by a group of island medics who have raised concerns about the bill.

The mover of the bill Alex Allinson MHK previously said there was no provision in the proposed legislation for it to be extended.

'Don’t go there'

The proposed legislation stipulates to be eligible you must be an island resident diagnosed with a terminal illness, with a life expectancy of six months or less.

In 2021, Canada loosened its euthanasia laws to no longer require that a patient's condition be terminally ill, allowing people whose condition is serious and incurable to request it.

Mr Schadenberg said: "Don’t go there... we were told in Canada it would only be for rare cases [but] you open the door to one thing, and you end up getting something else."

"We should be caring for people’s physical suffering, and there should be commitment and a culture to say 'that’s not the way to die'," he said.

Graham McAll said the proposed laws were 'dangerous and unnecessary'

Retired GP Graham McAll is a member of Manx Duty of Care, an opposition group of about 150 health and social care workers and organisers of the meeting at the Manx Museum.

He said he believed the proposals were "dangerous" as he feared they would be eventually extended and "we won't be able to stop it once we open the can of worms".

The move was "unnecessary" as with improved care "the legislation should not be needed", Mr McAll said.

The meeting would help people to "understand the details of what actually happens" in places where laws have been introduced and "educate them about the difficulties", he added.

The private members' bill by Dr Allinson passed its second reading in October and a committee appointed to examine its clauses is expected to publish it's report in March.

At the time, Dignity in Dying's chief executive Sarah Wootton said the vote to take the bill forward was a "turning point" for their campaign.

Ms Wootton said it was a "historic vote" and meant the MHKs had "listened to the people's call for compassion".

A public consultation on the subject on the island divided opinion last year with 49.61% of 3,326 responses disagreeing with the principle of assisted dying while 49.01% agreed with it.