Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England, has said that he was “shocked and saddened” by a vote on the Channel Island of Jersey to approve assisted suicide “in principle.” The bishop expressed his dismay after the island's parliament backed an assisted suicide proposition last Thursday.
“I was shocked and saddened by the results of the vote on euthanasia and assisted suicide in Jersey. It demonstrates a woeful lack of interest in protecting the most vulnerable people in our society”, the bishop said on the website of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. “However, this is only the first step in the process of legalising 'assisted suicide'; as such, we will continue to scrutinise and challenge any proposed legislation in the months ahead.”
Very disappointing news from Jersey. But the fight is not over. Let's redouble our prayers and our efforts to stand up for the dignity and value of human life, to support our doctors and to improve palliative care. pic.twitter.com/PYgFkhCOnO
— Bishop Philip Egan (@BishopEgan) November 25, 2021
The States Assembly, the parliament of Jersey, backed the assisted suicide proposition by 36 votes to 10, with three absences. According to the BBC, a further debate will be held next year, after details of the processes and safeguards have been worked up. If those proposals are backed, then a draft law could be discussed and voted on in 2023. First of the British Isles The proposition would permit an adult island resident with a “voluntary, clear, settled, and informed wish to end his or her own life” to seek assisted suicide. The person must have been diagnosed with a terminal illness “expected to result in unbearable suffering that cannot be alleviated” and judged to have less than six months to live. Or he or she must have an incurable physical medical condition resulting in “unbearable suffering that cannot be alleviated.” Jersey is an island with an estimated population of 107,800 people near the coast of north-western France. The British crown dependency is not part of the United Kingdom and has its own government and legal system. If the island changes its laws, Jersey will be the first place in the British Isles to allow assisted suicide, Catholic News Agency writes. In 2018, the legislature of Guernsey, another Channel Island, rejected an assisted suicide proposal, drawing praise from Bishop Egan.
