The States of Guernsey will consider whether it agrees in principle with a bill tabled by the island’s chief minister Gavin St Pier.
If the 40-strong parliament agree an 18-month consultation will be carried out.
The Channel Island would become the only place in the British Isles to legalise assisted dying if the bill then passes into law.
The Dean of Guernsey, Tim Barker told Premier: “There’s been a huge amount of discussion in Guernsey about this matter over the last few weeks, it’s dominated the media and the local paper and a lot of discussion. I think a lot of the conversation is about autonomy and about freedom of choice but the problem with freedom of choice is that we don’t live in isolation and the choices we have impact on other people.”
“The main objection…is that this would be an absolutely fundamentally change in the moral position which is clearly a Christian one and transcends religion and ethical systems – that importance of the state doing what it can to preserve life and not taking.”
He spoke about how Christians have got involved: “The church leaders quite early in the debate joined together in an almost unprecedented, I think, open letter to the people of Guernsey raising our concerns about the proposals, which I think was a significant moment in the debate about a month ago,
“Within the churches it’s difficult to tell the views of all church…
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