'Momentous' week in Jersey's States

Dignity in Dying campaigners from Jersey and the UK are demonstrating outside the States building, and watching proceedings in person, as the Assembly takes an historic vote on assisted dying.

It's set to be a landmark week in Jersey, as politicians are asked to legalise assisted dying, with just three more States sittings remaining until the general election.

It's been five years since it was agreed that a service should be created, and almost two years since proposals for a draft law were agreed upon.

READ: Assisted dying service approved in Jersey

Health Minister Deputy Tom Binet says the people working on the law have done 'an extremely comprehensive job':

"This is the end of a very detailed process. The island is very lucky.

"If this goes through, we'll have one of the best assisted dying services anywhere in the world."

Over the next couple of days, politicians will vote on the proposed law, including some possible late changes.

These include third-party appeals (removal of appeals by persons with special interest), administration (whether self-administration of the life-ending drug should be the default model), and waivers (whether someone can agree to the service in advance, in the case that they later lose their capacity to consent).

Campaigners are in the Royal Square this week and are watching the debate from the gallery.

Amongst them are members of the public, nurses, as well as UK and Jersey members of the right to die group 'Dignity in Dying', who are asking States members as they enter the chamber to 'support us in ending bad deaths.'

Channel 103 spoke to people who had 'screamed' to have pain taken away at the worst of their illness. One woman said she had been asked by a terminally ill friend to 'put a pillow over her head'. She said:

"I had a friend who died of breast cancer. She had a lovely life, but most certainly did not have a lovely death. 

"If people have had a good life, they should have a peaceful death. Mental anguish is hugely overlooked; it's very important for people not to fear their death.

"The frustration of not being yourself is terrible. We all want to die knowing who we are, that we're still ourselves.

"Very often, the people who are given drugs at the end of their life, they do a certain amount of good, but it can alter their personality so their families are saying goodbye to a different person."

If agreed, an assisted dying service will be offered by summer 2027 to terminally ill adult residents with less than six months to live.

Jersey will be the second place in the British Isles to have the service written into law, after the Isle of Man.

The principles of the law were voted through last month by 32-14.

End-of-life care is changing in Jersey as politicians push forward assisted dying